ABSTRACT
First published in Japan Forum, Vol 6, No. 1, April 1994 WHEN DOI TAKAKO became the first woman to be elected Chairman of the Japan
Socialist Party (JSP) on 6 September 1986, a media sensation was created. No woman had ever headed a political party in Japan before, indeed precious few women had ever been elected to membership of the House of Representatives, although the percentage figures were slightly higher for the less important House of Councillors, or Upper House. 1 Indeed, for the previous two decades, the numbcr of women parliamentarians had tended to fluctuate with the fortunes of the Japan Communist Party (JCP), which was the only party actively promoting women as parliamentary candidates.
