July 6, 2025

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Japan’s state of lagging behind in gender equality has again been indicated by recent statistics. The World Economic Forum on June 11 released its “Global Gender Gap Report 2025” in which Japan ranked 118th among 148 countries, the same position as that in the previous report. Among G7 countries, Japan remained the lowest.

The UN committee last year based on its review of Japan’s efforts in regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommended that Japan draw up a comprehensive strategy aimed at eliminating patriarchal attitudes and discriminatory sex-role stereotypes in society. In the field of employment in particular, Japan received the 11-item request. The government should take the UN committee’s recommendations seriously and ratify the Optical Protocol to the CEDAW which introduces a system enabling individuals who have suffered gender discrimination to report to the UN on their experiences.

In reaction to news coverage regarding the global gender gap index, voices of complaint have been spreading on social media, which is impossible to overlook. They included comments such as, “The UN is interfering in Japan’s domestic affairs,” “Does this mean preferential treatment of women without regard for their abilities is a must? No way!” and “Men experience discrimination more than women.”

Anti-gender movement politicians are stirring up the backlash against gender equality. Among them were Kamiya Sohei, the head of the radical right-wing populist party “Sanseito”. Delivering a kick-off speech on the first day of the House of Councilors election campaign, Kamiya touched on Japan’s declining birthrate and said, “The promotion of gender equality and other measures so far taken to deal with this issue are wrong.” He even ridiculed the tenacious efforts, mainly made by women, to promote women’s empowerment.

The Liberal Democratic Party’s ultraconservative faction is strongly opposed to the introduction of a selective dual-surname system by saying that to allow the use of separate surnames for married couples will lead to a “loss of family unity” and the “demolition of traditional family values”.

In order to advance further gender equality, the need is to use the Upper House election as an opportunity to deliver a severe verdict to political parties and politicians imposing old-fashioned values on the general public. It is also necessary to achieve a major advance of the Japanese Communist Party in the election to promote gender equality.