Japan Press Weekly

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2026 September 2 - 8 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Gender gap among local assemblymembers remains wide

It is important to address the gender disparity in the number of assemblymembers in local, autonomous decision-making processes.

As of December 2025, the proportion of female lawmakers was lowest in prefectural assemblies at 14.7%, followed by town and village assemblies at 14.9%, city assemblies at 20.3%, and government-designated major city assemblies at 23.6%. Even in Tokyo’s special wards (the 23 wards), where the proportion was the highest at 36.2%, it was still far from reaching 50%.

The 6th basic plan for gender equality in 2026 sets the same target as the 5th plan in 2023: to increase the proportion of female candidates in nationwide simultaneous local elections to 35%.

What about municipal workers who carry out local administrative duties? As of April 2025, 40.5% of those hired through local civil service examinations were women in prefectures and 47.0% in government-designated major cities.

In terms of managerial positions, among prefectural employees, women accounted for 23.7% of section chiefs, 16.5% of division chiefs, and 10.3% of department directors or deputy directors. Among city, ward, town, and village employees, the respective figures were 36.3%, 21.0%, and 13.3%.

The higher the position, the lower the proportion of women in management roles within local government offices.