As expected, Taro Aso dissolved the lower house parliament on Tuesday calling for an election to be held August 30th. On a televised speech, he apologized to the public for his poor leadership skills and inappropriate comments made during his tenure as well as lack of solidarity within his own party. Polls consistently show the public favors Hatoyama as the new PM rather than the incumbent, Aso. The DPJ, led by Hatoyama, has promised many new changes such as waiving highway tolls (which are exorbitant right now) and providing 26,000 yen around $250/month for child-raising allowance to families (to help the problem of shoshika, low birth rates).
Along with these proposed changes, will the DPJ promote increased female political participation? According to the data by the IPU, Japan is ranked 105th for the percentage of women in the lower or single House. It is tied with the Gambia with 9.4 per cent female representation in the Lower House. Women have a slightly higher representation in the Upper House accounting for 18.7 per cent of of members. The government has expressed a target of 30 per cent female representation at the national level by the year 2020. The DJP financially supports first-time female candidates, yet only 207 females out of 1,236 candidates (approximately 17%) are running for office in the upcoming election. The number of female candidates hasn't increased from much in 2000 when 202 women ran. Will the new government prioritize increasing women in politics in a society in which birthrates are falling rapidly? If it does, will the rise in female representatives in the government increase the priority given to pro-women policies such as equal opportunities in the workplace?
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