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Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes youth-oriented women’s organizations that address gender gaps in local politics, examining how they operate as intermediaries to promote political participation and constitute grassroots responses to gender inequality in Japan.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the role of women’s organizations as intermediaries in enhancing political participation in Japan, with particular attention to youth-oriented groups that seek to address the persistent gender gap in politics. Despite longstanding policy commitments to gender equality, women—especially young women—remain significantly underrepresented in both national and local political institutions. This gap is especially pronounced at the local level, where political careers often begin but institutional and social barriers continue to limit women’s entry.

Focusing on grassroots organizations that support young women interested in political engagement, this paper analyzes how such groups function as bridges between individuals and political institutions. These organizations provide resources that are often absent from formal political channels, including political education, leadership training, peer mentoring, and opportunities for networking. By lowering the costs of political participation and fostering collective identities, women’s organizations play a critical role in cultivating political ambition and sustaining engagement among young women.

Drawing on qualitative case studies of youth-oriented women’s organizations in local political contexts, the paper explores the strategies these groups employ to promote participation, including candidate recruitment, campaign support, and advocacy aimed at transforming gendered norms of political leadership. It also examines the constraints these organizations face, such as limited access to political parties, institutionalized age and gender biases, and the precarity of volunteer-based activism.

By conceptualizing women’s organizations as political intermediaries rather than solely advocacy actors, this paper contributes to broader debates on gender and political participation, civil society, and representation. It argues that youth-focused women’s organizations constitute a strategic grassroots response to gender inequality in Japanese politics, particularly by expanding pathways for young women’s entry into local decision-making processes. In doing so, the paper highlights the importance of civil society actors in reshaping the conditions under which political participation becomes possible for historically underrepresented groups.