Japan takes step toward first female leader as two women run
Source: Japan Times
Two women are in contention to become prime minister of Japan for the first time in its history — a potential turning point for a country that ranks below Saudi Arabia in terms of female political representation.
Victory for either Seiko Noda and Sanae Takaichi, both former internal affairs ministers in their 60s, in a Sept. 29 vote for leader of the ruling party would mean Japan sees its first female prime minister. Even having women make up half the ballot of four candidates is a step forward for diversity in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, whose president is virtually assured of becoming prime minister due to its dominance in parliament.
“It probably won’t work out this time,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist at the Yamaneko Research Institute, of the chances of either female candidate making it to the top job. “But this makes it seem absolutely a matter of course that women should run, and people will get used to that.”
Noda announced Thursday she plans to run in the vote to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as LDP leader, joining Takaichi, as well as two men — vaccine czar Taro Kono and Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister.
“If I become Japan’s first female prime minister, I want to bring about a paradigm shift,” Noda said in a policy speech Friday. “I will aim to have half my cabinet made up of women.”
Click here to read the full article published by the Japan Times on 18 September 2021.
Two women are in contention to become prime minister of Japan for the first time in its history — a potential turning point for a country that ranks below Saudi Arabia in terms of female political representation.
Victory for either Seiko Noda and Sanae Takaichi, both former internal affairs ministers in their 60s, in a Sept. 29 vote for leader of the ruling party would mean Japan sees its first female prime minister. Even having women make up half the ballot of four candidates is a step forward for diversity in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, whose president is virtually assured of becoming prime minister due to its dominance in parliament.
“It probably won’t work out this time,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist at the Yamaneko Research Institute, of the chances of either female candidate making it to the top job. “But this makes it seem absolutely a matter of course that women should run, and people will get used to that.”
Noda announced Thursday she plans to run in the vote to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as LDP leader, joining Takaichi, as well as two men — vaccine czar Taro Kono and Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister.
“If I become Japan’s first female prime minister, I want to bring about a paradigm shift,” Noda said in a policy speech Friday. “I will aim to have half my cabinet made up of women.”
Click here to read the full article published by the Japan Times on 18 September 2021.