Few Women Candidates in Japanese Elections

Despite the election of Sanae Takaichi as the first female prime minister, the participation of women in parliamentary elections in Japan is showing only a slight increase. The government's target of 35% female candidates by 2025 remains distant.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, ultra-conservative and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, has not made gender issues a central point of her policy. She appointed only two women to her cabinet.

According to the Jiji Press news agency, the percentage of female candidates in the LDP is only 12.8%, down more than three points compared to the previous elections.

The Sanseito party has the highest percentage of women, at approximately 43%.

Japan ranks 118th out of 148 countries in the 2025 report on the gender gap of the World Economic Forum.

The percentage of female candidates for the lower house in Japan reaches 24% of the 1,285 candidates, a record number, but only one percentage point higher than the previous elections.