ABSTRACT
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) vested interests in business and the economy have served to exclude women from politics in two major ways: through party and political structures that are elitist and discriminatory against women and other minorities, and through policies that have consolidated women's place in the home. Interest politics have driven the LDP's success, but at the same time have consistently excluded women from politics. Neither Japanese politics nor the position of women in Japanese politics can be explored without first explaining the LDP. The LDP has had an overwhelmingly strong influence on the way that electoral politics is carried out in Japan. The LDP formed during the tumultuous campaign system that ensued in the immediate post-war period. The electoral system and the campaign system that assisted the LDP in winning consecutive elections, at least until 1993, were difficult for women to succeed in.
