24% of the candidates for the upcoming elections for the House of Councillors (upper house) are women.

There are currently 44 (18.57%) women members of Japan’s upper house out of a total of 237 seats. Women in Japan did not have the right to vote until 1945.

In the past elections to the lower house held in 2012, 7.9% of elected candidates were women, while in the previous legislature the percentage was 11.3%. Japan's Government set out the goal to have women account for 30% of all parliamentary seats.

Sources: http://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/eng/members/index.htm

http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2162_A.htm      

http://www.electionguide.org/election.php?ID=1883

For more information visit the Global Database of Quotas for Women and the Parline database on national parliaments