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Will Japan get its first female prime minister as two women run?
- Victory for either Seiko Noda and Sanae Takaichi in a September 29 vote for leader of the ruling LDP would mean Japan sees its first female premier
- Just 10 per cent of members of Japan’s lower house are women, placing the country below Saudi Arabia in terms of female political representation
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Two women are in contention to become prime minister of Japan for the first time in its history – a potential turning point for a country that ranks below Saudi Arabia in terms of female political representation.
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Victory for either Seiko Noda and Sanae Takaichi, both former internal affairs ministers in their 60s, in a September 29 vote for leader of the ruling party would mean Japan sees its first female premier.
Even having women make up half the ballot of four candidates is a step forward for diversity in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, whose president is virtually assured of becoming prime minister due to its dominance in parliament.
“It probably won’t work out this time,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist at the Yamaneko Research Institute, of the chances of either female candidate making it to the top job.
“But this makes it seem absolutely a matter of course that women should run, and people will get used to that.”
Japan doesn’t have the Taliban. Why is women’s participation falling so far behind?
Noda announced on Thursday she plans to run in the vote to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as LDP leader, joining Takaichi, as well as two men – vaccine tsar Taro Kono and Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister.
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