POLITICS-JAPAN: Woman Campaigner Takes on Tough Incumbent in Poll

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Apr 9 2003 (IPS) - Two 70-year-olds, one a woman who favours light pink suits and lace blouses and advocates peace, the other a hard-headed male incumbent who talks tough and says that Japan should stop apologising for its past, are revving up their election campaigns in the Japanese capital.

At stake in the Apr. 13 local election is the powerful position of Tokyo governor, a post that carries massive responsibilities – the Tokyo urban agglomeration is home to over 26 million people, and the governor oversees a gargantuan 7 trillion yen (57 billion U.S. dollar) budget.

Shintaro Ishihara has just completed a first term as governor and is seeking a second four-year stint. A typically blunt speaker, he is seen as militaristic and has not endeared himself to women by making comments, as he did to a Japanese weekly last year, like "the most harmful thing civilisation has produced is middle-aged women".

In contrast his main opponent, Keiko Higuchi, is a university professor who has for years campaigned for better public services for the elderly and increased assistance for women caregivers.

For a 55-year-old homemaker like Hiroko Iida, the choice is clear. "Higuchi has to dethrone Ishihara for he makes me sick," she said.

Higuchi’s candidacy is seen as a watershed for Japanese women and the grassroots organisations that comprise her support base. This year, a record 383 women candidates are running for office in Japan’s prefectural assembly elections, compared with 323 in the 1999 polls.

"I am against the Iraq war and support peace," Higuchi said in a recent campaign speech, to wild applause.

In 1993, Higuchi launched the Women’s Association for Better-Aged Society, a non-governmental organisation to address the problems of an ageing society and to campaign for women’s rights. "I entered this race because I believe in democracy and want to give voters a choice," she told her audience.

Will Tokyo’s voters make that choice when they line up at the ballot boxes on Apr. 13? Political analysts and author Harumi Arima does not think that choice will upset Ishihara’s plans.

"Higuchi is no match for Ishihara, with his experience and popular appeal," said Arima, and added that the welfare issues that are Higuchi’s campaigning plank are overshadowed by the need to find a solution to Tokyo’s budget deficit, which is now around 4 billion dollars, and which Ishihara says he plans to tackle by, among other things, advocating casinos and increasing jobs.

Although both Ishihara and Higuchi are running as independents they are backed by, respectively, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition Social Democratic Party.

A third candidate, Yoshiro Wakabayashi, is head of the Tokyo chapter of the Communist Party. Two others – an inventor and an agriculture consultant – make up the pack.

The Apr. 13 elections – Tokyo and nine other prefectures in Japan go to the polls on that day – are not without wider significance. Political parties have ramped up their campaigns as they believe these poll results could affect the course of Diet (Japan’s parliament) elections expected within the next 14 months. The term for House of Representatives members expires in June 2004.

Historically, elections in Japan do not galvanise the electorate and low turnouts are the rule, not the exception. General elections usually result in a turnout of about 40 percent but for this month’s poll, a turnout of 58 percent is expected – or lower if it rains.

But Mariko Bando, head of the Gender Equality section at the prime minister’s office, warns against expecting the outcome to be a cakewalk for Ishihara. "Women comprise 50 percent of the electorate and if there is high turnout, the unexpected could happen and Ishihara could be out," she said.

Whether Higuchi’s welfarist, women-centric approach can sufficiently win over the female constituency remains an unknown, and although women voters do turn out in large numbers when there are issues that they relate to, as in this case, they generally tend to follow their husbands’ lead.

And this is where Ishihara, a colourful figure who walks with a swagger, is expected to score – he commands considerable support among Japanese men who admire his outspoken manner and nationalist policies.

He describes himself as a ‘realist’ and has during his term called for the return to the country of U.S. bases in Japan, for a crackdown on illegal foreign workers, and slapped a controversial tax on banks.

Higuchi, self-deprecatingly, describes the race as one between a "peace-drunk old lady" and a "militaristic old man".

Although she has not held public office, her work is known and respected. "She puts people’s interests first, not corporations," said Kiyoko Kumazaki, 60, a volunteer at Higuchi’s campaign office. "She is democratic and fair and supports the underdog. That is why we are here."

The work carried out by the Women” Association over the years has dovetailed neatly with Higuchi’s campaign plank – its studies indicate that 90 percent of caregivers in Japan are women, and that the higher life expectancy of women has left many without adequate financial resources in their old age as they are dependent on their husband’s salaries.

Hence Higuchi’s arguments for cutting public works and shifting public investment to what she describes as "software" infrastructure – training and services for developing human resources.

Indeed, Ishihara’s four-year term has produced little in the way of promoting the rights of women, the elderly or the handicapped. Instead, the Tokyo administration passed a bill in 2000 requiring, for the first time, that seniors pay for public transport.

Ishihara’s decision to take over the management of Tokyo Women’s Plaza, an independent foundation that received public funding, dealt a blow to women’s issues campaigners. This, together with his stance and comments, could swing crucial votes Higuchi’s way.