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- Convenor:
-
Naoko Oki
(Sugiyama Jogakuen University)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Mizuho Tsuchino
(University of Oslo)
- Discussant:
-
Mijin Kim
(Daito Bunka University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Politics and International Relations
- Location:
- Faculteitszaal
- Sessions:
- Saturday 19 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
Developing women's leadership is one of the main policies of the Abe administration and his succeeding Cabinets. This panel will discuss how policies to enhance female leaders develop in Japanese politics and economy through case studies of female leaders in private companies and local assemblies.
Long Abstract:
Since the formation of the second Abe Administration in 2012, the Japanese government has announced to increase women in decision-making process especially in the economic and political fields. Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life requires employers both in public and private sectors to set a numerical target for women in managerial positions and establish action plans to improve women's participation in the economic field. Act on the Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field calls for political parties and groups to strive for achieving equality "as much as possible" in number of male and female candidates in both national and local elections. After Abe resigned as Prime Minister in 2020, Abe's Womanomics, policies for promotion of women's participation and advancement in politics and economics are succeeded by Suga and Kishida Administrations. The advancement of women in leadership positions, such as board members of private companies and lawmakers in the Diet, is emphasized in the fifth Basic Plan from 2021 to 2025 for Gender Equality and Josei-ban Honebuto no Hoshin 2022, namely a basic policy in 2022 for women's empowerment in important areas, including the economic and political fields, local communities, and science. However, Japan remains low in the global gender gap ranking for the past ten years. Abe's Womanomics has not increased women in leadership positions in politics and economics.
The purpose of this panel is to critically discuss policies on promotion of women's participation in leadership positions and to analyze factors that promote and hinder women's leadership in Japan through case studies. This panel will address the following questions. What are the factors that hinder women from entering leadership positions? How are women empowered and how do they become leaders?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 19 August, 2023, -Naoko Oki (Sugiyama Jogakuen University)
Paper short abstract:
In the fifth Basic Plan for Gender Equality, a numeral target for women running for Nation-wide Local Election is first articulated in policies for promotion of women’s participation in politics. This paper discusses how the policy increases female candidates in Nation-wide Local Election in 2023.
Paper long abstract:
Women’s underrepresentation in local government is one of the global issues as well as that in parliaments as countries’ highest legislative bodies. In Japan a proportion of female legislators in local assemblies is 15.1 percent and that of female mayors and governors is 2.7 percent both as of December 2021. In 2018, the new law aiming for gender equality in politics, Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field, was enacted, which calls for political parties to try to achieve equality in the number of male and female candidates in both national and local elections. At Nation-wide Local Election in 2019, which is the first one held after the law, the percentages of female candidates and women elected increased slightly, by two percent, though the number of female candidates increases at all the level of local assembly membership elections.
Grounded on the current situation of gender inequality in Japanese local politics, the government announces in the fifth Basic Plan for Gender Equality from 2021 to 2025 that a numeral target, 35 percent by 2025, for female candidates running for Nation-wide Local Election is set in policies for promotion of women’s participation in politics. After the act on gender equality in politics was put in force, there have been more news reporting that members of women’s groups empower women to run for local elections in their own cities and towns through seminars or training programs for 'women only', and that political parties struggle to look for new female candidates both of national and local elections. This paper discusses how the policies on promotion of women in politics activate women’s groups to empower women and political parties to recruit women, and how they increase female candidates in Nation-wide Local Election in 2023.
Kaoru Kanai (Saitama University)
Paper short abstract:
The Kishida administration is trying to encourage companies to adopt "new" Japanese-style wage practices on job evaluation in order to facilitate labor mobility. This presentation will examine whether this wage practice increases the number of women in management positions.
Paper long abstract:
The Kishida administration is trying to encourage companies to adopt "new" Japanese-style wage practices on job evaluation in order to facilitate labor mobility. The aim is to "revamp the seniority-based salary system to a job-based salary system," which will make it easier to reflect specialized skills in salaries and facilitate labor mobility, leading to higher productivity and higher wages for all Japanese. In Japan, Job-based pay is understood to emphasize the expertise and difficulty of individual jobs, and differs from job performance pay, which evaluates age, length of service, and ability to perform the job. This presentation will examine whether this wage practice increases the number of women in management positions.
At first, we would like to consider why there are so few female managers in the chain store industry, which has a high percentage of non-regular employees and a high percentage of female employees. This is because the small number of full-time employees in this industry are often required to relocate frequently, work long hours, and work shifts that include nighttime hours, making it difficult for full-time employees to maintain work-life balance. In such a situation, promotion to managerial positions practically requires "the ability to relocate" and "the ability to work long hours and flexible working hours," and tends to place more emphasis on "work style" than on job duties. This study will clarify the reality of this working style through interviews with a few female store managers in the chain store industry.
Second, we will clarify the meaning of the "new" Japanese-style wage practice as described by the PM Kishida and examine what will change with its introduction and whether it will promote the promotion of women to managerial positions, based on a case study of the chain store industry.
Eriko Hamada (Rikkyo University)
Paper short abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to examine and review how local politics change under a female leader. The paper will focus on movements to change priorities in the agenda of local assembly, thus giving the public a new sense of determination in local governments.
Paper long abstract:
In Japan, only 10% and 20% of the members of parliament’s Lower House and Upper House, respectively, are women. Women account for a mere 2% of the leaders of Japan’s 1,811 municipalities. The aim of this paper is to examine and review how local politics change under a female leader by focusing on Suginami Ward in Tokyo, Japan. In June 2022, Satoko Kishimoto, a 20-year resident of Europe with no experience in public office, won the mayoral election beating the incumbent male mayor by a margin of just 187 votes. She is the first female mayor in the history of Suginami Ward with a population of 588,800.
After assuming the role of mayor, Kishimoto strives to pick up voices that weren't paid attention to under previous administrations. She also stresses the importance of listening to the voices of voters who did not vote for her. By doing so, she hopes to facilitate dialogue among people with different interests.
The paper will focus on movements to change priorities in the agenda of local assembly by Mayor Kishimoto, thus giving the public a new sense of determination in local governments.