Polls opened Sunday to elect a new Tokyo governor with incumbent Yuriko Koike challenged by opposition figure Renho, two prominent women in Japan's male-dominated political sphere.
Japan has never had a woman prime minister and a large majority of lawmakers are men, but Tokyo, accounting for a tenth of the national population and a fifth of the economy, has been run since 2016 by former television anchor Koike, 71.
While few now tout the former defence and environment minister as a possible future prime minister, as many once did, polls suggest that the media-savvy conservative will win a third straight term in the metropolis of 14 million people.
This will be some relief ahead of national elections due by late 2025 to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of deeply unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida which backs Koike, even though she broke away from the LDP in 2017.
Kishida, whose public support rate has been dwindling to around 20 percent, partly due to a political funds scandal revealed late last year, will also face the LDP leadership election later this year.
The Tokyo vote comes after new government data showed the birth rate hit a record low of 1.20 last year, with Tokyo's figure 0.99 -- the first Japan region to fall below one.
Pledges of family support
Both Koike and her nearest rival Renho, who goes by one name, have pledged to expand support for parenting, with Koike promising subsidised epidurals.
"After having their first child, I hear people say they don't want to experience that pain again," Koike said, according to local media.
"I want people to see childbirth and raising children as a happiness, not a risk," said the incumbent, who has campaigned with an AI-version of herself.
Renho, meanwhile, pledged to support young people "and expand their life choices."
"I will implement genuine long-term fertility measures," said Renho, who is backed by Japan's main opposition parties.
"I will also realise transparent fiscal reforms, where everyone can check the situation."
A dark horse in the race could be independent candidate Shinji Ishimaru, 41, a former mayor of Akitakata in western Japan, recent polls also suggested, with some swing voters preferring him over Koike and Renho.
"If you look away, interest-based politics and pork-barrel projects will rear their ugly heads," he said in a speech Saturday, stressing his financial expertise as a former banker.
A record 56 people are standing in the election, not all of them serious, with one dressing as "The Joker" and calling for polygamy to be legalised. Others are campaigning for more golf, poker or just to advertise their premises in the red-light district.
Local media speculate that the turnout may be up given that early votes cast through July 5 reached 1.65 million, up 20 percent from 1.38 million in 2020.
Overall turnout was 55 percent in the last vote, down from nearly 60 percent when Koike was first elected in 2016.
Ballot boxes will close at 8 p.m.
© 2024 AFP
19 Comments
kibousha
What has 8-years of "woman" governor brought to Tokyo ? 0.9 birth rate, and decreasing. Does gender matter ?
/dev/random
I would like you to elaborate on that comment. What do you suppose led to a declining birth rate when a woman (why the quotation marks?) was in charge?
(Unless you are implying that Koike, instead of working as a mayor, single-wombedly should have propped up the birth rate.)
cakehole3201
You can't judge all women's leadership based on the performance of one woman.
Yes, gender does make a difference.
Japan's patriarchy is a perfect example of the consequences of male-dominated leadership. The country has consistently ranked among the lowest in the world in gender equality and women's empowerment.
Pukey2
Well she certainly didn't help with the birth rate. And does she still believe that the 1923 Kanto massacre was fake? In a country which takes falsification of one's qualifications seriously, I don't understand how she hasn't been made to resign. Mutliple people close to here have come forward to say she faked her certificate and graduation story, and native Arabic speakers have said her spoken Arabic is awful for a "graduate".
Garthgoyle
Just like the rest of the developed countries, that happen to be run by men. So to your question, no, it doesn't matter. This is a world problem caused by so many factors, and not by a single politician.
TokyoResiding
She is a bit of a nationalist but has never claimed the Kanto Earthquake massacre never happened.
Her stance on not commemorating it is not much different from the average Japanese person.
There's little love for so-called 三国人 'sangokujin' in Japan.
As someone who has met hundreds of them, I know that the average Japanese English graduate's English ability is pretty awful.
There is controversy over her qualifications, but university qualifications don't count for much in Japan - the university you got into, not the qualification you gained, is what counts.
Yubaru
So what. Does Tokyo NEED more people? I highly doubt it!
falseflagsteve
How stunning and brave.
Jonathan Prin
Television anchor...
You know how she got her relationships.
She did nothing for Tokyo to move on to be more habitable and friendly. I can only think of concrete.
Wesley
People like to blame either Japanese male politicians or Japanese female politicians for the declining birth rate.
But what if there was another player?
Look up Beate Sirota Gordon.
bund
Beate Sirota Gordon has no direct role in Japan's declining birth rate.
She helped draft Japan's post-World War II constitution, particularly the sections concerning women's rights and equality.
Her work in the 1940s focused on ensuring legal equality for women in Japan, which has had long-lasting effects on Japanese society.
What's your spin?
Wesley
Ever wonder why in countries where feminism was promoted, there has been a decrease in birthrate?
Or why in the west where it has has been infesting for so long, NOW women are wishing they'd married and had children instead?
Wesley
Her kind are never direct. Always indirect. Always behind the scenes.
caroti
More weird misogynistic right-wing conspiracy theories.
I don't want to live in a world where our daughters are subjugated by a misogynistic male-dominated society.
falseflagsteve
Caroti
Indeed feminism has been partly responsible for the falling population. Not the idea of feminism but the way it has been manipulated by big business and governments.
Wesley
It's no conspiracy theory.
It's a fact that many western women, in social media, mainstream media as well as IRL, are bemoaning the fact that they wish they'd married and started having a family instead.
But a certain group of people don't want that....
They don't want women to focus on families.
Like I said, it's neither the male nor the female Japanese politicians.
But another....
EvilGod
Nobody is controlling what women think or want to do with their bodies (unless abortion is illegal), though I know a lot of men want to. Women are not stupid. Women are free to have a family or not. They don't have to have babies if they don't want to. Most do.
falseflagsteve
EvilGod
Expections, what is considered the current norm and right thing to do are what drives many peoples will. Their will is not entirely their own but on what take in from outside sources. Men and women are led to believe a certain path or way of life is the way to go greatly based on external pressures such as current trends in the media, those around them etc. People become blinkered which is the easiest way to go, causes less issues for those pulling the strings.
owzer
That means the patriarchy did their job correctly. The two genders are not equal. Forcing them to become so would be a mistake.