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Paper short abstract

Why has Taiwan substantially narrowed the gender gap in politics while Japan has not? Drawing on two decades of nomination and election data, this paper compares Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to show how institutions, elite recruitment pathways, and partisanship shape gender gaps in politics.

Paper long abstract

Despite sharing advanced economic development, democratic institutions, and broadly similar socio-cultural contexts, Japan continues to lag significantly behind Taiwan in gender equality in politics. This paper revisits this well-known puzzle by asking a more specific question: why has Taiwan been able not only to elect more women, but also to sustain their political careers over time, while Japan has struggled to do so?

Building on original nomination, election, and re-election data and elite interviews with legislators, this study adopts a comparative perspective that places Japan at the centre of analysis, with South Korea and Taiwan serving as analytically strategic contrasts. Applying a mixed-method approach, the paper highlights three underexplored dimensions. First, it shows how differences in electoral institutions—particularly the design and practical operation of mixed electoral systems—create distinct opportunity structures for women’s long-term political survival. Second, it examines personal pathways into politics, including the role of political families and inherited networks, which remain unusually salient in Taiwan and disproportionately benefit female politicians. Third, it reassesses the role of partisanship, arguing that gender equality largely functions as a broadly non-partisan, valence issue in Taiwan, while remaining deeply politicised and polarised in Japan (and South Korea).

Rather than presenting gender equality as a simple outcome of quotas or cultural change, the paper conceptualises women’s presence in politics as a career-contingent process, shaped by institutional incentives, elite recruitment practices, and partisan competition. By situating Japan’s experience within a broader East Asian comparison, the paper contributes to Japanese studies by offering a reframed explanation for Japan’s persistent gender gap—one that foregrounds political structure and career sustainability over participation alone.