Japan

The return to power of Japan’s conservative and hard-line Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Sunday indicates that voters traded urgently needed social and environmental reforms for traditional male-led leadership, according to analysts here.

Political activists in Japan rally for introducing more women into the nation's political arena in the wake of the quadrennial nationwide local elections.

Japanese women have less clout in companies and politics than women in other advanced countries, the government said in a report that highlighted the need for steps to help women balance jobs and their personal lives.

Experts on women's issues say outright prejudice is only part of Japan's problem. An even bigger barrier to the advancement of women is the nation's notoriously demanding corporate culture, particularly its expectation of morning-to-midnight work hours.

Yuriko Koike emerged Wednesday as a possible contender to be Japan's first female prime minister, with heavyweights in the ailing ruling party urging her to challenge conservative favourite Taro Aso.

When it comes to female participation in politics, Japan lags far behind other nations.If Japan is going to catch up with the countries that boast a high percentage of female politicians, women must create a nationwide movement, according to panelists at a symposium advocating more women in polit

The Democratic Party of Japan has promoted women and younger candidates who have not risen through traditional routes to power.The display of hyperactivity was deliberate, and not just because Ms. Kushibuchi is anxious to win every last vote she can.

Japan's parliament will look radically different when it formally elects Hatoyama as prime minister at a special session in the middle of next month. The lower house will contain 158 first-time MPs, just over 90% of them from the DPJ, and a record 54 women, 40 of them from Hatoyama's party.