Japan’s cabinet under new PM Ishiba is ‘backslide’ for female representation, sparking criticism

Japan’s new prime minister appointed only two women to his 20-strong cabinet on Tuesday, in what a rights group said represented a “backslide” in Tokyo’s push for greater female representation in politics.

New premier Shigeru Ishiba, who held off a challenge from a female rival to lead Japan’s ruling party last week, picked Junko Mihara to take charge of children’s policies and Toshiko Abe to oversee education, what are considered relatively low profile roles.

A quarter of the previous cabinet of outgoing prime minister Fumio Kishida, who resigned in August partly due to a series of party scandals, were women, including the key post of foreign minister. While low by international standards, that was a record for Japan.

But that is well below female representation seen in other Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies, amid questions about a commitment by Japan’s ruling party to raise the number of its female lawmakers from around 10 per cent to 30 per cent over the next decade.

“Going from five women cabinet members, which was already extremely low, to two, is a reflection of just how far Japan has to go in terms of women empowerment and equality,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia programme officer at Human Rights Watch.