By Eduardo Martinez and Mariko Tamura
KYODO NEWS
–
July 7, 2022 – 11:02 | All of them, Japan
A record number of women and LGBTQ candidates are campaigning to win voters in Sunday’s House of Commons elections and, perhaps, bring about a change in the political landscape of Japanese men.
While some advocates have applauded the unprecedented number of women and LGBTQ hopefuls, candidate policies will be put to the test, as polls have shown issues such as rising prices and social security are likely to be of concern to voters.
Of the 545 candidates, 181 women are campaigning in the three-year election, trying to win one of the 125 seats that will be drawn in the 248-seat upper house of parliament.
This election is seen as a measure of progress in presenting 33.2% of the highest number of women candidates and the number of candidates who hope to increase women’s representation, even if the government’s goal is far from reaching a 35 per cent ratio. 2025.]
A photo taken on July 2, 2022, in Tokyo, ahead of the July 10 House election, shows people listening to street campaigns. (Kyodo)
By comparison, in a humble figure, the four candidates from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community also make up the highest number ever to get seats in the upper house.
Candidates include 50-year-old transgender candidate Karen Yoda, of the Reiwa Shinsengumi party, whose phrase is “Diversity is Power,” as well as 30-year-old Shunichi Murata of the Social Democratic Party, who identifies as bisexual, and Daigo Matsuura. , 52, of the Japan Innovation Party, which is open gay.
“Personally, I think visibility is very important,” Gon Matsunaka, president of the Tokyo Consortium Pride House, said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
“Hardly anyone has come out in the political world. Recently, we have had Kanako Otsuji and Taiga Ishikawa,” he said of lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
Ishikawa, a member of the upper house, is currently the only politician who is currently gay in the Diet, after being re-elected to the Otsuji House of Representatives last year, according to Matsuna.
Matsuna said that without a spectacular representation on the Diet, where a lawmaker is a 61-year-old male gender, people would not know that LGBTQ people are among them and that prejudices would not go away.
His comments last week at a June meeting in a document stating that homosexuality is “a mental disorder” and other discriminatory remarks against LGBTQ people were sparked by members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party at a meeting linked to a Shinto religious organization. rights groups and social networks.
However, shaking the strong influence of LDP and coalition member Komeito is a challenge for any candidate, even 30-year-old Yohei Saiki, who acknowledges that people are likely to tend to vote for the LDP’s well-known economic policies compared to a newcomer.
Saiki said he is “very aware” of his visibility as a homosexual as an open candidate for the Independent Children’s Party, which calls for more financial resources to support children’s upbringing, and Ishikawa was “extremely encouraged” by his election debut. it was still in the closet at the time.
“I’m sure some are wondering if it’s really necessary to mention it,” Saiki said as he campaigned at the Bunkyo Ward in Tokyo. “But if I don’t say I’m gay, people may not know it, and I want to show that they exist in society.”
According to surveys, 8 to 10 percent of the population is identified as part of the community and although the majority of the Japanese population is in favor of same-sex marriage, LGBTQ issues are likely to be ignored as pre-election polls indicate a conservative LDP. is likely to win the election.
“Society is changing, but not the Diet. There is an allergy to equality issues, especially for minorities,” said Kanae Doi, director of Human Rights Watch in Japan.
The improvements include the creation of a system that will allow diets to pass laws and facilitate the political participation of different groups, he said.
A Cabinet Office report in March 2021 saw 994 people fail to run in local or national elections, with more women than men citing a lack of funds and knowledge to run a campaign and difficulties in “balancing family life”. Sexual harassment has also become an inappropriate attempt.
A recent survey by the House of Representatives, which lists only 46 of the 465 members of the House, believes that greater representation of women is needed.
But more women than men believed that the current number was not enough and that there are stereotypes against women in the Diet, according to the survey.
“Whether it’s women, LGBT people, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, it’s important for them to be part of the political world,” Doik said in an interview. “The diet must reflect society, including the voices of minorities.”
Japan ranks 147th in political empowerment among the 156 countries in the 2021 Gender Index of the World Economic Forum. Women make up 14.4% of all diet members, including 23.1% in the upper house.
Doi says social pressure is key to bringing about change in a straightforward male-dominated system, and that the selection of candidates is a testament to more gender equality — such as the establishment of a women’s quota system.
“It is said that if there were at least 30 per cent of women in the seats, it would change the parliamentary environment and help to reflect women’s voices in politics,” she said.
In Sunday’s election, the opposition parties achieved a high ratio of women candidates to the Communist Party of Japan and the CDPJ, such as more than 50 percent, and then the Democratic Party got a hair above 40%.
