14% of Local Assemblies in Japan Have Zero Women: Report

Women remain under-represented in Japanese politics. Now, a new report reveals just how much work remains to be done.

A survey by Kyodo News examined how many female representatives exist in Japan’s 1,788 prefectural and municipal governments. It found that a full 14.3% had zero women elected. Another 437 had only a single woman elected. The two combined account for 38.8% of all local governments in Japan.

All told, women make up only 15.4% of elected representatives in local governments, despite comprising slightly over half of Japan’s population.

The best and the worst

The local governments with zero women are all cities, villages, and towns; no prefectural or ward assemblies shut out women. Only Yamanashi and Kumamoto prefectures have a single female representative in their respective prefectural assemblies.

The prefecture with the largest number of local governments without women is Hokkaido at a stunning 52 out of 180. Percentage-wise, the worst was Aomori at 36.5%.

Chiba, Kanagawa, Osaka, Tochigi, Hiroshima, and Kagawa prefectures ranked the best in representation: not a single local government in these prefectures lacks female representation.

Of the women who serve in prefectural and municipal assemblies, few hold positions of power. Only 76 women lead their local assemblies compared to 1,712 men – a paltry 4.2%.

Women shut out of politics in Japan

Unfortunately, many local governments seem to have no interest in changing this situation. Of the assemblies surveyed by Kyodo, only 289 are working to increase female representation. 1,493 say they have no such initiatives.

Mind you, the situation isn’t any better nationally. Women comprise less than 10% of Japan’s Diet.

Officially, large institutions such as Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) say they are working to include more women in politics. However, the rhetoric often doesn’t match reality. In 2021, after vowing to raise its foster of female candidates to 35%, the LDP topped out at around 20%.

However, there are signs of change. As of 2022, Japan’s political parties raised their percentage of female candidates to 32.4%. The parties with the most representation are the Japanese Communist Party at 51.9% and the Constitutional Democrats (CDP) at 46.5%.

The LDP-allied Komeito is the worst, at a paltry 14.3%. However, that’s an increase from 2019, when it was a mere 8.3%. Likewise, the LDP raised its roster from 14.6% women to 23.2% women. between 2019 and 2022.

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Sources

「女性ゼロ」議会14％、1人以下4割　均等遠く　共同通信調査. Mainichi Shimbun

候補者「男女均等」道半ば　各党注力も女性３割余―参院選. Jiji