Paper short abstract:

The presence of female officeholders of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has increased since the 2000s in local assemblies. This paper discusses how the sharp increase in LDP's women in local assemblies promotes women's participation in local politics in Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Traditionally, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has fallen behind other national parties about the promotion of women's participation in politics. However, after Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister again in December 2012, the LDP's manifesto at the Diet member elections pronounces that the party fulfills the target of increasing the percentage of managerial posts held by women in all fields in the society including politics and economics to 30% by 2020, and also that it promotes women's participation in politics more strongly than ever. Actually, in the Diet and local assemblies the ratio of female officeholders of the LDP has increased since the 2000s. Especially, the number of LDP's female officeholders increased dramatically in the Nation-wide Local Election in 2011 and 2015. This paper discusses how the sharp increase in LDP's women in local assemblies promotes women's participation in local politics in Japan by shedding light on the candidate selection policy and recruitment system of political parties.