Last summer, Hanako Okada, a Tokyo lawyer and mother of two, began her campaign for Parliament in her childhood rural district in northern Japan. Many she consulted predicted her chances of winning were close to zero.
As a candidate from the opposition party, Okada faced an incumbent from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), whose family had held the seat for nearly 40 years. At 44, Okada was a political novice and largely unknown in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, where she had left over 25 years ago for college.
Japan ranks low among democratic nations in female political representation, with women holding just over 10 percent of seats in the lower house of Parliament before the recent election, placing the country 163rd out of 183 globally, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Despite the odds, Okada, representing the Constitutional Democratic Party, successfully defeated Jiro Kimura of the LDP, becoming the first woman to win a single-seat district in Aomori. Her victory contributed to a record number of 73 women elected to the lower house, increasing their representation to around 16 percent of the 465 total seats.
Okada aims to change the culture of parliamentary life, which is often unwelcoming to women, especially mothers. She expressed her desire to openly discuss work-life balance in politics.
The increase in female representation was seen not as a direct vote for gender equality, but as a response to public dissatisfaction with the LDP, particularly regarding a political finance scandal and economic issues. The LDP lost its majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 15 years.
Political analysts note that the recent gains for women in politics must be sustained by ensuring they can be re-elected rather than being viewed as temporary alternatives to entrenched male politicians.
Women have made some progress at local levels, with figures like Yuriko Koike, the first female governor of Tokyo, winning a third term recently. However, many obstacles remain, including societal expectations and the challenging dynamics of caregiving that disproportionately affect women.
Okada and other elected women often face harassment and scrutiny, deterring potential candidates, especially younger women. Okada attributes her election success to a combination of public frustration with the LDP and her understanding of local issues as a mother.
In her role, Okada plans to address significant challenges in Aomori, which has an aging population and economic decline. She aims to promote agricultural technology, sustainability, and enhanced child care services to restore hope in her region.
“People have really lost hope in this region, in the future,” Okada stated. “I thought, why don’t we make it so that people in this region have more hope.”