Society Japan: small steps towards female empowerment

Ichiyo Shimizu, 56, who holds a 7-dan "joryu kishi" ranking, was named to succeed 54-year-old Yoshiharu Habu, a 9-dan professional, who retired. Shimizu is also an active player who has the distinction of being the first player to hold four joryu crowns simultaneously. This is the first time for a non-kishi to be appointed as president. "This is a big role that is beyond my capacity," Shimizu said at a news conference. "The fact that the shogi association chose me is a challenge. I will do my best." Her term of office is two years. Shimizu was approved for her fifth term as a full-time director at the association's ordinary general meeting, held in Tokyo on 6 June. She was then elected as the new president by a unanimous vote of the board of directors. According to association officials, Habu backed Shimizu as his replacement as president.

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The government announced the appointment of Masami Okino to the Supreme Court, making her the fourth female justice in the court's history. Okino, 61, dean of the University of Tokyo's Graduate Schools of Law and Politics and dean of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law, will succeed Katsuya Uga, 69, a scholar-educated justice who will retire on 20 July. The appointment, which was decided at a June 6 Cabinet meeting, brings the number of women among the 15 Supreme Court justices to four, the largest number ever. Okino is a native of Nara Prefecture and a graduate of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law. She specialises in civil law and is a member of the Civil Law Subcommittee of the Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice. The number of female justices has remained at two or three in recent years. Currently, there are three: Justice Kazumi Okamura, 67, a former administrative officer; Justice Eriko Watanabe, 66, and Justice Mitsuko Miyagawa, 65, both former lawyers.

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Of the 99 female candidates, seven are backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, 14 by the regional party Tomin First no Kai, six by Komeito, 17 by the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), five by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, one by Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party), three by the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network, six by the Democratic Party for the People, one by Reiwa Shinsengumi, two by Sanseito, one by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), seven by The Path to Rebirth and two by other groups, while 27 are independents. The Conservative Party of Japan did not field any female candidates. The proportion of women among each party's candidates reached 100% for the SDP and Tokyo Seikatsusha Network, 71% for the JCP and 50% for Sanseito, while 49% of independent candidates are also female.

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