Japan

TOKYO -- Women account for a mere 18.1% of prospective candidates to be fielded by Japan's six major political parties in the 289 single-seat constituencies in the next House of Representatives election, a Mainichi Shimbun survey has found.

TOKYO -- A study group headed by Mari Miura, a professor at Sophia University's Faculty of Law in Tokyo, with an objective to achieve gender equality in Japan from local levels, has compiled a Japanese gender gap index by prefecture.

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) chose Tomoko Tamura as its first-ever female leader Thursday, apparently in the hope of broadening its support base and attracting a wider array of voters.

Despite lacking ties to this city and being described as a poor public speaker, a former social worker won an election here to become the youngest female mayor in Japan.