J. Paul Mitchell and Dr. Ray Christensen, Political Science
Women account for an alarmingly low proportion of political representatives in Japan. Japan tends to elect fewer women to political office than nearly all other industrialized democracies.1 Despite popular support for a more balanced parliament, women accounted for only 15% of the winners in the recent Upper House elections.2 The struggle for gender equality in Japan’s parliament continues to encounter daunting resistance.
Although Japan’s record may be rather deplorable, two of the major obstacles blocking women politicians could potentially be overcome in the immediate future. Currently, structural friction within the electoral system hinders the chances of women running for office in Japan. Sensible reforms could correct this problem. Also, Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has traditionally supported fewer women candidates than the opposition parties.Responsiveness to the public’s desire for more female nominees may correct the imbalance.
Women seemed to find little success in races for the parliament until rather recently. Doi Takako, a charismatic member of the Japan Socialist Party, inspired the “Madonna Boom” of the late 1980s, creating an influx of aspiring female politicians. However, the fire for a parliament that adequately reflects the diversity of the people has all but been extinguished.3 Burdensome electoral laws and the implementation of a new electoral system where the majority of seats are determined in single member electoral districts dominated by male candidates hinder women political hopefuls. Personal support groups have been the most effective way of hurdling electoral obstacles in the past, but these, too, have been the overwhelmingly biased property of male candidates.
Tracking data from Upper House elections back to 1947, the first time they were held under the postwar system, the records show that the success rate of women candidates hovered between 5 and 16 percent until the 1989 election that witnessed both the “Madonna Boom” and the LDP’s first loss since its inception. Women won 24% of the seats in 1989, dipped down to 12% in 1995, surged to 26% in 1995, held at 20% in 1998, but dropped to only 15% in 2001. Lower House data suggests a similar trend. Although social factors and other more complicated reasons account for some of this fluctuation, the restructuring of electoral rules bears an important part of the blame in repressing women candidates.
Besides the institutional difficulties caused by the electoral system, women seeking office as LDP candidates face additional challenges. As recently as the 2001 Upper House elections held on the 29th of July, women comprised 27.6% of all eligible candidates, but the LDP, which nearly swept the district races and clearly dominated the proportional representation contest, accounted for only 7% of the female candidates. However, LDP women who were able to gain party support won 8 times out of 10 tries for a success rate nearly equal to the party’s impressive 84%. Further analysis of the LDP’s success over time goes to support the growing consensus: the LDP under-represents women in Japan.
Public discourse abounds on women’s issues in Japan, but the problem of inequality in the parliament demands decisive action. Women have proven to be resilient competitors in Japanese political life; what they need now is a level playing field. Further research will help to more clearly isolate the sources of electoral inequality and LDP prejudice.
My research on women’s representation in the Japanese Parliament (commonly called the Diet) has led me along a winding path of knowledge and discovery. In May and June of 2001, I met many people in Japan who helped me to better frame the salient issues in Japanese politics. I was also able to accompany my faculty mentor in conducting several interviews. Meeting with a political editor at a major newspaper helped me to better appreciate the way that information regarding politics is disseminated through the media. An extensive conversation with a politically connected publisher and two of his employees offered insight into the important figures and issues in Japan. The culmination of my field experience was an interview with a Diet member that helped me to better appreciate the motives and concerns facing Japanese politicians.
Studying Japanese political issues has also introduced me to an enlightening cache of scholarly work and statistical data. I gained more confidence in using Japanese newspapers and Internet sites and experienced the thrill of the hunt in tracking down elusive numbers. Also, reading through relevant books and articles provided a framework for interpreting the electoral results that have been crucial to my efforts. The experience I have gained thus far will be invaluable as I continue to probe the subject and summarize my findings.
I expect to find statistically significant evidence of electoral system friction and LDP resistance. I hypothesize that the electoral system and the LDP cause women politicians in Japan to fare worse than they otherwise would under a more egalitarian arrangement. I have worked closely with my faculty mentor on this project, and we hope to submit a co-authored paper for publication by the end of the year.4
References
- Christensen, Ray. 2000. The Impact of Electoral Rules in Japan. In Democracy and the Status of Women in East Asia edited by Rose J. Lee and Cal Clark, 25-46. Boulder, Colorado: L. Rienner.
- All electoral results in this report come from the Asahi Shimbun, 1990-2001.
- Iwamoto, Misako. 2001. The Madonna Boom: The Progress of Japanese Women into Politics in the 1980s. PS Political Science and Politics 34 (June): 225-6.
- Ray Christensen, my faculty mentor, deserves special thanks for all of the time and advice that he so patiently gave.