In 2019, as part of its program on Empowering Women Leaders, JCIE launched a nonpartisan Diet study group to deepen women legislators’ understanding of critical policy challenges. In the initial year, 13 Diet members, chaired by Representative Seiko Noda, are meeting seven times through March 2020, once every month or two, for discussions with leading experts from Japan and abroad.

In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly noted that it was “highly concerned that women in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political sphere,” and called upon all states “to enhance the political participation of women (and) to accelerate the achievement of equality between men and women,” including ensuring their right to participate “in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof, holding public office and performing public functions at all levels of government.” Indeed, the current level of participation by women in politics remains low worldwide and particularly in Japan. In terms of women in the national legislature, Japan ranks 160th out of 191 nations with just 47 women in the 465-seat Lower House of the Diet (10%) and 50 women in the 242-seat Upper House (20.7%).

Beyond simply increasing the number of women in legislatures, however, it is vital that, once elected, women policymakers be able to address not only domestic issues, but a vast range of international issues that affect Japan and the world. Many female politicians in Japan run for office based on a desire to address issues they have faced in their local communities, and they are playing a major role in drafting policies from their perspective as women that are bringing about changes in Japanese society. Now, they are expected to bring that same voice to issues that affect the international community as well. This requires that they continuously work to improve their policymaking capacity and deepen their interest in and understanding of global issues.

The JCIE study group seeks to support them in those efforts, offering a chance for them to strengthen their policy understanding about key issues that affect Japan and the world, such asglobal and regional security issues, Japan’s response to migration and refugee issues, the social impact of AI, and international finance. In the future, the project may also entail sending delegations to the United States and countries in Asia to expand the members’ international networks and provide an opportunity for them to engage in dialogues with other leaders, including women politicians.