Japan opposition figure’s rise could pave way for female leaders

Yet if, as widely predicted, Renho Murata, a member of the upper house of parliament, prevails in a leadership contest Thursday and becomes the first woman to lead the opposition Democratic Party, she will be the third woman to assume a high-profile political post in Japan in less than two months.

A victory by Murata, 48, a former model and television news announcer who has served in parliament for more than a decade, would hardly usher in an era of female dominance.

[...] with three women in positions that could be steppingstones to the prime minister’s office, it would be a noteworthy moment for Japan, which is far behind nations like South Korea, Taiwan, Britain and Germany, which have elected female leaders, and the United States, which has its first female major party candidate for president.

“Given that it’s already 70 years since the Constitution was established, where gender equality is advocated, I have to say it is too late,” said Mayumi Taniguchi, a law professor and the founder and chairwoman of All Japan Obachan Party, a women’s advocacy group, referring to the country’s constitutional prohibitions against discrimination by gender.