Photo/Illutration Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, at a news conference in the Diet on June 24 (Yuki Minami)

Criticized as misogynistic, an opposition leader said his comment that policy is “difficult to understand” for women was misunderstood due to his imperfect English skills.

“I regret having used an awkward expression due to my poor English,” Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, wrote on the social media platform X on June 25. “I had no intention of making a derogatory comment about women.”

At a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo the day before, Tamaki was asked about the low support for his party among women.

Speaking in English, Tamaki replied that he does not know why the support is sluggish and said: “I think our policy is good not only for men but also women, and but I think it’s very difficult to understand for them.”

The remark drew online criticism for suggesting that women have difficulty understanding the DPP’s policy.

In his June 25 post on X, Tamaki acknowledged that his comment has been described as misogynistic.

“What I wanted to convey was, “I believe the DPP’s policies are good for women as well, but the reality is that they have not reached women, and I feel it challenging,” he wrote.

He added that he should have used the word “deliver” instead of “understand” in his original remark.

(This article was written by Yuki Minami and Ryutaro Abe.)

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