TOKYO -- Japan's upper house election next month poses a major gender equality test, with a record number female candidates running in a country known for lagging behind on women's political participation.
Female hopefuls account for 181, or 33%, of the 545 contenders registered for the July 10 poll. From an advocate of equal rights for sex workers to a former United Nations official of Uyghur heritage, many of the candidates hope to not only make strides for women but to bring more diverse perspectives to Japanese politics.
One expert said that the record number of female aspirants shows Japan is finally "off to a start." It has a long way to go: In the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap report for 2021, the country ranked 147th in women's political empowerment, out of 156. Only 14% of sitting lawmakers were women as of last November.
Yukiko Kaname, a 46-year-old first-time candidate for the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, would like to see not only more women but more people from different walks of life in the halls of power.
"[Democratic] politics is supposed to guarantee the diversity of society, but right now, most of the members of parliament have a similar set of values and ways of thinking, because they've all been highly educated and have a decent family and job experience," she told Nikkei Asia.
For years, Kaname has advocated for equal rights for sex workers. Herself a veteran of the nightlife scene, she gained national prominence in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when she protested the government's disqualification of sex workers with children from receiving compensation for lost wages. The government soon reversed its decision.
To her, the episode only highlighted misunderstandings about the sex industry and its lack of representation in parliament, motivating her to get on the ballot.
Kaname feels that having more female politicians in the Diet is not enough. A diversity of viewpoints and experience is also crucial, she argued. "What is important is not just increasing the number of female politicians, it is what kind of women become politicians."
While Kaname is running for the CDP, 33-year-old Arfiya Eri brings her own unique background to the ballot for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Eri's name and appearance prompt some to question whether she is "Japanese." As a naturalized Japanese citizen of Uyghur heritage, born and raised in Japan, "I only consider myself Japanese," she said. "But I want to show at home and abroad that there are various forms of 'Japanese.'"
She is the youngest candidate on the LDP's slate this time -- the minimum age for upper house candidates is 30. But Eri brings a global perspective gleaned from over five years of working at the United Nations in New York.
As part of her job as an assistant political officer for the Asia-Pacific, she recalled observing Bangladesh's election in 2018, which was marred by allegations of human rights abuses against the opposition. This, she said, taught her about the value and fragility of democracy and liberty.
One way to protect Japan's democracy, she believes, is to make sure a range of voices are heard. But "there is a significant population [in Japan] that is obviously unrepresented and may be left behind in that process. The largest of such groups is women," said Eri, who also previously worked at the Bank of Japan.
Eri sketched the scene at the annual U.N. General Assembly, where each member state sends in a delegation. She said that Japan and China were "about the only nations" that sent all-male teams. At U.N. headquarters, meanwhile, women made up the majority of officials. But she recalls sensing that she was seen as someone prompted to work abroad because her country did not tap women's potential, whereas her European colleagues were simply viewed as women interested in international relations.
Japan is progressing, Eri said, but the speed is "terribly slow," and the country does not seem to realize it. "In Japan's terms, it's trying hard and improving, so that's reassuring," she said. "But when you measure that in global standards, it's getting further and further left behind."
Indeed, Japan's 147th place in the WEF's political empowerment ranking last year was worse than in 2006, when the country ranked 83rd out of 115. As of 2021, Japan had closed only 6.1% of the gender gap -- based on the percentage of women in parliament and ministerial positions, as well as the number of years in which a woman has been head of state in the last five decades (zero in Japan's case). This was down from 6.7% in 2006.
For comparison, neighboring South Korea, frequently cited as another male-dominated society, ranked one spot below Japan in 2006 but climbed to 68th place in 2021, joining the top half. The WEF says the country has closed 21.4% of its gender gap. It promotes female participation in politics with tools including gender quotas, penalties for sexual harassment and public funding.
"Japan only recently realized that women were absent [in politics]," said Mari Miura, a professor of political science at Sophia University. While other countries have seen governments come and go and boosted female participation in politics under progressive leaders, she said Japan has been "stalled for 15 years" under mostly conservative rule, as its WEF scores show.
But Miura conceded that Japan would not even be off to this start without the groundbreaking law passed in 2018 -- proposed by a group of bipartisan legislators -- that called on parties "to voluntarily work on the promotion of gender equality," including by setting targets for the number of male and female candidates for public office.
Both Kaname, the sex worker advocate, and Eri, the former U.N. staffer with Uyghur roots, are candidates under Japan's proportional representation system, through which 50 upper house members will be elected. Another 75 will be elected in individual constituencies.
The ruling LDP still has a relatively low share of female candidates, at 23%, while two opposition parties, the CDP and the Japanese Communist Party, have over 50% each. Some parties are calling for quota systems in politics to further promote female participation.
Prospective voters listen to a speech during Japan's upper house election campaign. Women accounted for only 14% of lawmakers as of last November. © Kyodo Miura remained pessimistic about how many women will win seats in parliament this time around. With the voting rate hovering around 50%, she explained that candidates would have to depend on support from organizations, many of which are male-dominated.
She stressed that a review after the election will be "extremely important." If the parties are criticized for failing to actually send their female candidates to parliament, it would push them to do more to help women win in the future. "We have to repeat that for 20 years, because that's how long it takes for most nations to change," Miura said.
The government aims to raise the ratio of female candidates in elections to 35% by 2025. Miura thinks this is likely unachievable, especially for elections for the more powerful lower house, unless drastic affirmative action policies are implemented. Incumbents are likely to thwart such laws for fear of losing their positions.
"That's why we need external pressure, the media and the voice of the public, calling for more female representation," she stressed. Incumbents will be motivated to change only when they sense that supporting female candidates will help them stay in power.
"Whether Japan is going to inch toward female political empowerment, or change significantly and achieve it, it's time to choose," Miura said.