The big news out of Japan this week is the House of Repreentatives election. Unfortunately for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which forced the election, things didn’t go quite as it had planned. On the plus side, women took a major stride forward in political representation. That’s good news for a country that consistently ranks near the bottom in political gender equality.
Not a good election for the ruling party…

Japan is still wrestling with the fallout of Sunday’s election.
New Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru forced the election when he dissolved the National Diet’s House of Representatives. This was a common political tactic used by former PM Abe Shinzo, who used it repeatedly to shore up his own support. For many years, it worked. The LDP, along with its ally, the Komeito, has held the majority of Lower House seats for 15 years.
However, Ishiba’s predecessor, Kishida Fumio, shied away from calling one during his term. Kishida’s approval ratings were negative for well over a year. The LDP has lost public support steadily after revelations that multiple members took political slush fund money that they never reported on their taxes.
With his and his party’s approval ratings in the gutter, Kishida and others in the LDP seemed to feel a snap election would backfire. However, Ishiba entered office with one of the lowest approval ratings ever for a starting PM. He seemed to feel he had no choice but to take the gamble.
It was a gamble he lost. The LDP and Komeito fell 18 seats short of holding their Lower House majority.
No one quite seems to know how the country’s power brokers will manage to form a coalition government. Tobias Harris of Observing Japan, an astute observer of Japanese politics, does a great job laying out who holds power in the wake of election day. He concludes that Japan is likely facing a new reality in which legislative progress is slower and power is diffuser than it has been under LDP-Komeito rule.
…but a good election for women

One group, however, did especially well this election: Japanese women.
Japan lags behind the rest of the economically developed world regarding female representation in politics. The annual World Economic Forum Gender Gap report ranked Japan 138th out of 146 countries in politics in 2023. A stunning 14% of all local prefectural assemblies across Japan have zero women representatives.
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Fortunately, Sunday’s election showed some signs of change. A total of 314 women ran for political office – an increase of 69% compared to the 2021 election. 73 of those won their elections, topping the previous grant total of 54 female Lower House representatives in 2009.
Among Japan’s political parties, the Japan Communist Party had the most women as a proportion of its candidate roster at 37.3%. They were followed by the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) at 22.4%. The LDP came in third at 16.1%; however, the party stood the second highest number of female candidates overall at 55.
It’s not all good news, unfortunately. Japan’s government had previously set a goal of having 35% of the country’s nationally elected offices filled by women in 2025. Even after this election, women only comprise 23.36% of all office-holders.
…but not ALL women.
Not all female politicians, however, had a good time of it.
LDP politician Marukawa Tamayo, an ally of former right-leaning PM Abe Shinzo, lost her bid to grab a seat in Japan’s House of Representatives in Tokyo’s 7th Ward. Marukawa was aiming to switch her seat from Japan’s upper House of Councillors. Her term in that body expired on October 15th.
The problem? Marukawa was one of the LDP politicians accused of taking slush fund money. As a result, the party, which has tried to quell public outrage over the scandal, refused to add her to its proportional representation block. (Voters in Japan vote for both individual candidates and a party; 176 seats in the House of Representatives are handed out proportionally based on this vote.)
The ban foiled Marukawa’s plans to run both for a regular seat as well as be on the party’s proportional candidate list as a backup. Voters, frustrated over the slush fund scandal, took out their frustrations by denying candidates like Marukawa re-election.
The message? Japan wants and needs more female representatives. But it also needs fewer corrupt politicians – regardless of their gender.
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女性当選者、最多を更新…2009年衆院選の54人を上回る. Yomiuri Shimbun
過去最多の女性当選者、壊せるか男性政治の壁 衆院選で見えた課題は. Asahi Shimbun
女性候補の割合、過去最高だけど…いまだ23%[データで見る2024衆院選]. Yomiuri Shimbun
自民191議席、立民148 女性73人、過去最多【24衆院選】. Jiji.com
石破内閣の支持率、32%に下落 自公政権の継続望まず、53%. Kyodo
夫婦で落選の丸川珠代氏 次の「就職先」に東野幸治驚がく破格の収入「月に100万か200万」高橋洋一氏が予想. Daily