Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
4 Women, social change and realising
political ideals
The katamaru (grouping together) of Komeito female politicians
On 15 February 2004 I attended a Komeito nationwide meeting for female
politicians. The then Prime Minister Koizumi was present, so the press was
there in large numbers. I had scribbled down as I left the auditorium that
despite its o
cial nature, the meeting could just as well have been a gathering
of housewives who typically assemble for Soka Gakkai meetings. People
chatted and laughed enthusiastically as they waited for the meeting to begin.
It seemed pretty close to Komeito
s rhetoric of bringing ordinary people into
government. Komeito has some 3,000 local politicians across the country, the
largest group of local-level politicians in Japan.
I had been allocated a seat a few rows from the stage, to the left of where
journalists from the Komei Shinbun were sitting. While waiting for the meet-
ing to begin, I began a conversation with the woman sitting behind me. She,
and what seemed like her group of friends, were local assembly members from
the Tohoku region; this was their
'
first term in o
ce. The woman in her mid-
fifties told me that she had been a full-time housewife for many years before
becoming a local assembly member and the women sitting next to her nodded
in agreement as that was their experience too. When she entered local gov-
ernment she had to learn quickly as she knew little about the actual running
of local of
ce. It reminded me of a comment made by a staff
of the Komeito
Women
s Bureau, who had said that the biggest challenge they faced with
bringing in so many women from local communities was their lack of relevant
work experience and the on-the-spot job training that quickly was needed.
These women had been active members in Soka Gakkai for many years, and
moreover were usually well known in the community where they lived, but
had otherwise little experience in the running of local politics. The woman
from Tohoku explained the merits of women: women knew how to listen to
people and to understand individuals
'
needs, which they saw as an important
factor in their function as local politicians. For them, politics was about
working to improve the conditions for local people in their constituency.
Their concern was to live up to what they had learned in Soka Gakkai
'
-
caring for others.
 
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