Japan

A prominent member of Japan’s ruling party has described the country’s politics as “democracy without women”, days after the new prime minister appointed just two female MPs to his cabinet.

Lawmakers who were vying to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party including Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who won the overwhelming support of the party’s members, have vowed to continue outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to empower women and raise their share of leadership roles.

In rewarding Tokyo’s first female governor, Yuriko Koike, with a second term on Sunday, voters endorsed her highly visible leadership as the sprawling metropolis has avoided the kind of spiraling death toll from the coronavirus seen in other world capitals.

But a recent resurgence in cases in Tokyo has made clear that her challenge is far from over.

The Japanese government adopted Wednesday a set of policies on women, focusing on promoting their empowerment in the business and political arenas and helping single mothers secure child support from divorced husbands.

The policies stated that accelerating efforts to further increase the number of women in the boardroom and politics is a "matter of urgency" as the female presence in those areas has remained persistently low.

Sawako Naito, a 36-year-old independent rookie, was elected head of the city of Tokushima on Sunday, becoming the youngest female mayor in Japan.

Naito, who leads a community development group, defeated incumbent Mayor Akiyoshi Endo, 64, by 41,247 votes to 39,248.

Voter turnout fell to 38.88 percent from 45.70 percent in the previous mayoral election.

An international survey has ranked Japan 113th of 190 countries for the percentage of women in ministerial positions. It is the lowest among the Group of Seven industrialized countries.

The report was made by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women. It includes rankings for women in executive, parliamentary and government positions as of January 1 this year. The data was released to coincide with International Women's Day.

To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, there will be worldwide marches, parades, protests and public awareness activities on the contributions of women and the barriers and discrimination they still face.