POLITICS-JAPAN: Neophytes Battle With Veterans in Parliamentary Poll

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jul 16 2001 (IPS) - Bodyguards jostle with a crowd of supporters and television reporters whenever Japan’s most popular prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, makes political speeches in the race for control of Japan’s Upper House of parliament.

Not so, in the case of Hanako Igarashi, 34, a baby-faced homemaker, or other female candidates belonging to the Women’s Party, a new entrant in this electoral exercise that is viewed as the most hotly contested in recent years in Japan.

Wearing a bright orange T-shirt and khaki slacks, Igarashi smiles broadly as she hands out leaflets to passing commuters, appealing for their vote in the election slated for July 29.

Though largely unknown, the Party tries to create a niche by emphasising concerns such as education and other grassroots issues.

“The Women’s Party promises a bright future for your children, so vote for me,” she says through a microphone decorated with orange ribbons. “Japan needs better education and community for children,” declares Igarashi, one of eight new candidates from the Women’s Party.

According to spokesperson Teruhiko Goto, the party developed from a private research group that was started a decade ago by women, academics, and local volunteers concerned about such issues as community breakdown, environmental pollution, and school disorder.

“Three years ago, however, all the members decided to expand the outlook of their small research group and enter politics,” he says. “This was because we decided if we really wanted to change Japan, then we need to do it by entering parliament.”

The Women’s Party acknowledges that the going is tough in Japan’s political sphere that relies on the power of “money politics” and important connections to bigwigs in the establishment.

Igarashi says her campaign speeches steer clear of referring to the Liberal Democratic Party which, buoyed by Koizumi, is expected to win a landslide victory this time.

“I am just glad Koizumi is popular because it means there are more people interested in politics,” she says, referring to the unprecedented public interest in the upcoming elections.

A new poll last week showed 91 percent of respondends planned to vote.

In contrast to the usual campaign speeches that refer to economics and bank debt losses, Igarashi’s party hopes to lure voters through its simple grassroots appeal and youthful image.

“Compared to the more established parties, we are clean, young, and we pledge to work for the underclass, mostly women and children. Voters will support us too,” insists Igarashi.

She says her husband and children were shocked when she told them of her decision to run for the Upper House.

“They are still in a state of shock,” she grins as her bevy of female volunteer supporters titter understandingly at her remarks. “But my husband has promised to cook dinner for the family because I won’t be home till midnight.”

The other women candidates running under the Women’s Party are a mixture of working, married and single women whose ages range from 30 to 55 years.

Each candidate, Goto says, raised her own money — around three million yen (24,000 dollars) — for the election campaign. The rest of the budget has been supported by donations and the “unstinting work of volunteers”.

Analysts, however, predict no win for the Women’s Party in the upcoming election.

“There is not much hope,” says political analyst Minoru Tada. “The party is unknown, has no affiliations with the big parties to pull it along, and Koizumi’s popularity poses too high a wall to break.”

Despite the party’s name and claim to support women’s issues, Japanese feminists show very little enthusiasm.

Professor Keiko Hashimoto, who teaches political science at Jumonji University and an active supporter of greater women’s participation in politics, says the Women’s Party is not defending the equal rights of women.

“The party’s slogan is children, not women. The campaign is about building a safer society for children, it is not about gender equality,” she points out.

Women activists say the Women’s Party reflects the general trend in the Upper House election in which gender rights have taken a back seat.

“The focus is on the economy. Nobody, not one of the five women Cabinet ministers, including the popular Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, is pushing gender equality as an issue in the upcoming elections,” Hashimoto says.