After Sanae Takaichi took workplace as Japan’s first lady prime minister, AFP spoke to a few of her youthful counterparts who referred to as it a symbolic victory.
The three native councillors anticipate Takaichi’s win will do little to shift the male-dominated world of politics or entrenched expectations that girls will prioritize household over profession.
‘Get married’
After spending time away, Makoto Sasaki returned to her hometown Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, hoping to alter native politics.
But as quickly as she arrived, she was informed by members of the general public to give attention to having a household.
“They said, ‘You won’t be able to get married if you work so hard’,” Sasaki informed AFP.
They additionally mentioned I “wouldn’t be a proper adult without giving birth”, she recalled. “It was shocking.”
In Japan, gender roles are inflexible, with girls often anticipated to take care of the house and household, even when they work.
Infographic chart exhibiting proportion of seats held by girls in nationwide parliaments since 1997. Image: AFP
As a consequence, girls are grossly underrepresented in any respect political ranges, in addition to in enterprise and media.
Last 12 months, Sasaki ran for election, aged 27, and have become one in every of 22 native councillors.
“Unless we start cutting into these larger societal structures — like the gender gap, the division of household chores by gender, or care work — (the number of women politicians) won’t increase,” she informed AFP.
Takaichi, whose hero is Margaret Thatcher, had promised to nominate a cupboard with “Nordic” ranges of ladies, however on Tuesday, she appointed simply two, the identical quantity as her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba.
“My region, Iwate, has never had a female political leader, whether for governor or mayor,” Sasaki mentioned, emphasizing the magnitude of the issue in Japan, which ranked 118 out of 148 this 12 months within the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report.
Men older than 70 make up about half of Sasaki’s council in Miyako, and there are simply three girls.
Juggling home labor
In the coastal metropolis of Toba, Mie Prefecture, Chihiro Igarashi “worries constantly” about juggling her work as a councillor with caring for her two youngsters, aged two and three.
“The belief that mothers are the ones who step in when children need them in an emergency remains deeply ingrained,” mentioned Igarashi, 37, stressing that her husband and in-laws totally help her.
For {couples} with youngsters beneath six in Japan, girls spend a median of seven hours and 28 minutes on home tasks, caregiving, childcare and procuring, whereas males spend 1 hour and 54 minutes, based on 2021 authorities information, the most recent out there.
Igarashi mentioned she initially didn’t need Takaichi to be elected as prime minister due to her conservative insurance policies, together with opposition to same-sex marriage and help for a Nineteenth-century legislation requiring married {couples} to share the identical surname.
Takaichi additionally desires Japan’s imperial household to stay to its male-only succession guidelines.
But equally, “her toughness is appealing… she must have made extraordinary efforts to reach the level,” mentioned Igarashi, one in every of two girls councillors out of 13 in Toba.
“In my region, it’s often civil servants, company executives or other locally well-known figures who become politicians,” she mentioned. “And they’re all men.”
Single mom stigma
Erika Tsumori, a 34-year-old councillor in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, desires girls to be given an opportunity to work with out the constraints of societal expectations and stigma.
As a mom of two elevating her youngsters alone, she was informed throughout her marketing campaign that she ought to attempt to disguise her household dynamics.
“My city is conservative, so I was told (during the election) not to openly reveal that I was a single mother,” she mentioned.
“I was also told I was not a proper candidate as I wore dangly earrings,” she added, explaining that individuals noticed them as too informal.
Tsumori believes Takaichi’s win is a “symbolic victory” however that the scenario is altering, with the variety of girls candidates rising.
In 2024, simply over 23 % of candidates who ran within the election for the highly effective decrease home had been girls, in contrast with almost 18 % in 2017 and 13 % in 2005, based on official information.
Eventually, mentioned Tsumori, “there will surely be more women politicians.”
© 2025 AFP