Arab News Japan

Arab News Japan

Last year, Satoko Kishimoto found herself becoming the first female mayor in the history of Suginami, one of Tokyo’s 23 main districts. She is currently one of the only three female mayors in Japan’s capital.

Kishimoto faced criticism when she first started her role as mayor, as she vowed to challenge the country’s male-dominated politics.

She said as a 48-year-old woman, the job was “automatically difficult.”

“I’m not from bureaucracy, I’m not a politician. When I speak, people listen. But they’re not so easily convinced,” she told the BBC. In Suginami, most senior political posts are held by men.

Kishimoto explained that issues such as climate change, diversity and gender equality are challenged by older politics, adding that it is frustrating for her and her staff.

The mayor lived abroad for the last 20 years in Europe. Kishimoto told the BBC that she is the first to admit that she’s an outsider but that this is part of her strength.

“I have something else. I have looked at the Japanese society from a distance,” she said, adding that her “international eye” allowed her to view Japan’s issues objectively.

Kishimoto said Japan’s traditional social norms expecting women to take care of housework make it “very difficult” them to pursue a career in politics.

Another woman in politics is Tomomi Higashi, local council member in Tokyo’s Machida district. She was recently re-elected for a second term.

On her experience as a woman in Japan’s political scene, Higashi said she was most surprised by the “physical harassment.”

She told the BBC she was “being showered with insults by old men. Men coming very close to me and interrupting my speeches. Being asked to come for drinks at midnight. That’s when I really felt the male-dominated society. It was a wake-up call for me.”

Higashi joined a group of other female local politicians, lawyers and researchers who started a website called Harassment Consultation Centre for Women in Politics.

The aim is to provide a safe and secure platform for women getting into politics.

On March 8, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary MATSUNO Hirokazu said more needed to be done to address the wage gap and social attitudes in Japan.

“The situation for women… is quite difficult in our country and has been noted as an issue,” he said. “Based on measures we’ve taken, jobs for women have increased. But it’s also true that many switch to temporary work when they give birth, and measures to tackle this are still just halfway complete.”