Japanese women find their voice
Yet the number of women elected to the 465-seat House of Representatives actually fell — to 45, down two from 2017, when Japan ranked 163rd out 193 countries for gender equality in politics. Feminists wanted the act to require parties to field equal numbers of male and female candidates. But after fierce opposition from rightwing Diet members, it only requires political parties to make ‘every possible effort’.
Only 9.7% of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) candidates were women. The centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the main opposition party, had 18.3% women. The Communist Party (JCP) did better with 35.4%, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had 60%, though only nine candidates in total.
Feminism in Japan dates back to the end of the 19th century, when women demanded easier access to education and greater political rights. As part of modernisation during the Meiji era (1868-1912), primary education became compulsory for all from 1872; an 1886 decree required prefectural authorities to provide secondary education. Most universities, however, only accepted women after 1945 and even then, until 1995, most women attended two-year junior colleges. Everyone in Japan remembers the scandal in 2018, when Tokyo Medical University (private) admitted it had been reducing female applicants’ entrance exam scores for years. (Japan has a very low percentage of female doctors by international standards.)
Women began demanding the right to vote as soon as ‘universal’ adult male suffrage was granted in 1925. But in 1941 the second world war forced them to disband their campaign organisations and join the Patriotic Women’s Association, and, in 1942, the Greater Japan Women’s Association (membership compulsory for all aged 20 or over). This was a considerable setback.

NHK - Sep 26
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has mapped out a new economic stimulus package partly in response to the continued high cost of living. Kishida revealed the outline on Monday evening.

republicworld.com - Sep 23
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel accused China on Friday of using "economic coercion" against Japan by banning imports of Japanese seafood in response to the release of treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, while Chinese boats continue to fish off Japan's coasts.

NHK - Sep 21
Japanese legal authorities have acknowledged that a lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party violated human rights by posting a discriminatory comment about the country's indigenous Ainu people.

NHK - Sep 20
YouTuber and former Japanese lawmaker GaaSyy has pleaded guilty to habitual intimidation of people online and other charges.

The Diplomat - Sep 19
In a competitive democracy, it is common for an up-and-coming political party to be attacked by the party in power, out of fear of being supplanted, but also by the bulk of the opposition parties, concerned that they will be pushed aside into obscurity.

forbes.com - Sep 19
The biggest surprise of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s latest cabinet reshuffle is his sudden embrace of “womenomics.”

Al Jazeera - Sep 18
Demonstrators have rallied outside a Tokyo court demanding justice for cancer patients suing - Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) - the operator of the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Plant.

malaysianow.com - Sep 13
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese Coast Guard said on Wednesday, just hours before leader Kim Jong Un was expected to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia.

CNA - Sep 13
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida replaced his defence and foreign ministers on Wednesday (Sep 13), while increasing the number of women in the cabinet, in a major reshuffle.

Reuters - Sep 12
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to replace his foreign and defence ministers, public broadcaster NHK reported on the eve of a planned cabinet reshuffle, as the beleaguered premier looks to boost his sagging popularity.

Firstpost - Sep 12
As G20 Summit 2023 concludes, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida gives a press briefing.

NHK - Sep 10
The Japanese foreign minister has told the Ukrainian president that people from the public and private sectors in Japan will support the reconstruction of Ukraine.

News On Japan - Sep 08
Chinese internet users have rallied behind a yakiniku restaurant in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, after it was ordered by authorities to remove a sign saying, "No Japanese Allowed."

Nikkei - Sep 07
Tokyo prosecutors arrested lower house member and former parliamentary vice foreign minister Masatoshi Akimoto on Thursday on suspicion of receiving 61 million yen ($410,000) in bribes from a wind power company.

NHK - Sep 07
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has explained to China's Premier Li Qiang about Tokyo's position on the discharge of treated and diluted water into the sea from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Brookings Institution - Sep 07
On September 6, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies will host Solís to discuss key findings from her book and a panel of experts to evaluate Japan’s evolving role and its impact on the Indo-Pacific region.