By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-16 11:18:36 | Updated at 2024-10-16 14:14:29
3 hours ago
A record number of women are running in Japan’s general election this month, although they still account for less than a quarter of candidates, local media said on Wednesday.
New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is seeking to shore up his mandate in the October 27 vote by retaining a majority for the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan has never had a woman prime minister and Ishiba narrowly beat one of its few prominent female politicians, nationalist Sanae Takaichi, to the top job in a party leadership vote.
The 1,344 lower house candidates who kicked off their campaigns on Tuesday for all 465 seats include a record 314 women, Japanese media including the Yomiuri and Asahi dailies said.
The ratio of women candidates – around 23 per cent – is also a record high, according to the Yomiuri.
Ishiba’s efforts to encourage women to run – instead of former lawmakers embroiled in a slush-fund scandal in certain cases – is one reason behind the increase, the reports said.
