A record 40 women won seats in Japan’s House of Councillors election on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 35 set in the 2022 upper house vote.
Women won 32 percent of the total 125 seats up for grabs this year. High-profile lawmakers Seiko Hashimoto from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Renho from the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan were among those who secured seats.
There were 152 female candidates, down from a record 181 in 2022. Of the total, 29.1 percent were women, short of the government’s 2025 goal of 35 percent.
In 2022, women made up 33.2 percent of the candidates, the highest percentage ever.
Japan stood at 118th among 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap rankings in 2025, with poor performance in political empowerment. Progress was seen in the three other categories of economy, education and health, according to the report published in June.
Of the 152 female candidates, 102 ran from electoral districts and 50 through proportional representation.
The LDP fielded 17 female candidates while its coalition partner Komeito party had five.
In comparison, the ascendant right-leaning party Sanseito fielded 24 female candidates and the CDPJ 21. Twelve women ran for the Democratic Party for the People and 20 for the Japanese Communist Party.
