Women Make Big Strides in Japan’s Lower House Election
But there’s still a lot of progress to be made.
By Jay Andrew Allen
The big news out of Japan this week is the House of Repreentatives election. Unfortunately for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which forced the election, things didn’t go quite as it had planned. On the plus side, women took a major stride forward in political representation. That’s good news for a country that consistently ranks near the bottom in political gender equality.
Not a good election for the ruling party…
Japan is still wrestling with the fallout of Sunday’s election.
New Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru forced the election when he dissolved the National Diet’s House of Representatives. This was a common political tactic used by former PM Abe Shinzo, who used it repeatedly to shore up his own support. For many years, it worked. The LDP, along with its ally, the Komeito, has held the majority of Lower House seats for 15 years.
However, Ishiba’s predecessor, Kishida Fumio, shied away from calling one during his term. Kishida’s approval ratings were…
