It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time for people to trot out their best of/worst of lists. As usual, human rights and advocacy groups are getting in on the action as well. One group of feminists in Japan has made it its mission to select the most sexist and gender-biased statements made by politicians in Japan.
The Group
The group leading the effort calls itself NOASEPS in English, which is short for No to All Sexist Public Speeches. (Their Japanese name is 公的発言におけるジェンダー差別を許さない会; kouteki hatsugen ni okeru jenda- sabetsu o yurusanai kai.) Their stated goal is to raise consciousness of how such pronouncements hurt women and sexual minorities in Japan. “We believe that neglect of this phenomenon is part of why Japan’s gender equality initiatives are lagging behind other developed countries,” the group says on its Web site.
The group’s members are active feminists and feminist scholars in Japan. They include:
Shin Ki-Young (申琪榮), Researcher in Human Cultural Origins at Ocha No Mizu University (who you may remember from our story on Japan’s gender gap ranking);
Senda Yuki (千田有紀), Professor of Sociology at Musashi University; Nishikawa Yuriko (西川有理子), head of the Parité Campaign, which champions equal representation of men and women in Japan’s Diet;
Miura Mari ( 三浦まり), Professor of Global Environmental Law at Sophia University;
Minagawa Masumi (皆川満寿美), Associate Professor at Chuo University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts;
Murao Yumiko (村尾祐美子), Associate Professor of Sociology at Toyo University; and
Yunoki Yasuko (柚木康子), head of the Committee to Eliminate Discrimination from the Public Character ( 公人による性差別をなくす会 ).
The group selected its candidates for Japan’s most sexist and gender-stereotypical pronouncements from statements made by politicians. They did not include statements that were only made on Twitter but were never reported widely by the mass media.
The public can vote on the worst pronouncement in a public poll up until 11:59 PM, January 9th (JST). The poll lets voters vote for their top two candidates. It also gathers information about voter’s sexual identity and orientation, which I assume will be included in the final results.
The Candidates
Without further ado, here is this year’s Slate of Infamy.
1 Hirasawa Katsuei, LDP Politician: “If The Country Were Full of LGBT People, Japan Would Fall”
Hirasawa seemed to think he was making a good point, as he prefaced his statement with the words, “Men marry men, women marry women. It’s fine that it causes an issue if you criticize this. It’s really fine.” But his final words imply that supporting the LGBT community will cause it to “increase,” which, the committee notes, is “an unrealistic hypothesis.”
2 Aso Taro, Deputy Prime Minister: “The Elderly Aren’t The Problem. Those Who Don’t Give Birth Are The Problem”
Speaking about increasing life spans in Japan, Aso at first seemed to be criticizing people who took pokes at the elderly, or at the need for Japan to do more to support its aging population. But with his final words, he chose to blame the country’s declining population on women for not spreading their legs more. The Committee says: “He chose to put responsibility for the crisis in social spending, not on government policy that’s made Japan a difficult place to raise children, but on individuals (especially those who give birth – i.e., women).”
3 Sakurada Yoshitaka, Diet Member: “Encourage Your Kids and Your Grandkids To Have At Least Three Kids Each”
Ahhhh, Sakurada Yoshitaka. Dedicated Unseen Japan readers are likely familiar with the bumbling former head of Japan’s Olympics Committee. As head of Cybersecurity initiatives for Abe’s government, Sakurada made international headlines when he confessed that he doesn’t use a computer, and has his secretary print out his emails. He (finally) resigned after another, completely unrelated gaffe. The Committee calls him out this year because “no one should make orders regarding someone else’s reproductive health and reproductive rights.”
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4 Mashiko Teruhiko, Lower House Member: “As You Can See, She’s Not A Looker [美人], But She’s Charming”
Mashiko, a representative for the Democratic Party for the People (DPRP; 国民民主党) directed this particularly butt-puckering pronouncement at candidate Mizuno Sachiko in front of 120 people, invoking laughter from the crowd. The reduction of a woman to her appearance, as the Committee notes, rightfully earns Mashiko a place on this year’s Wall of Shame.
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5 Inada Tomomi, House Member: “Mori and I Share Something in Common – We’re Both Lookers”
Looks also figured into another candidate on this year’s list – only this time, it came from another woman, Inada Tomomi. The incident also happened in Fukushima, at a separate rally.
This was a repeat offense for Inada, who was dinged by the Committee for a speech in Singapore in 2017. While standing with the Defense Ministers of France and Australia, she remarked: “The three of us have some things in common…we’re all good-looking.”
The Committee dinged her for “pegging a female politician’s role to her outward appearance.”
6 Mitsuya Norio, House Member: “What Has She Done These Past Six Years? Her Biggest Accomplishment is Having a Kid”
Male politicians in Japan, it seems, can’t help but reduce women to birth-giving machines. Mitsuya followed this tired pattern when he “praised” fellow LDP candidate Yoshikawa Yumi at a rally in Mie Prefecture. Mitsuya, with a single remark, dismissed Yoshikawa’s years of work in the Japanese Diet. The Committee calls out Mitsuya for treating Yoshikawa “not as a Diet member, but as a woman whose success is determined by whether or not she has children.”
7 Hagyuda Kouichi, House Member: “He Meant She’s The Best Candidate Because She’s a Mom Now”
In the wake of the Mitsyua incident, several politicians – such as Hagyuda – came out in support of his statement. “He meant that she’s the best candidate because she’s a mom now,” Hagyuda told the press. “That line won the biggest applause from the audience.” The Committee lambastes him for a pronouncement that “carries no awareness it’s creating a culture that affirms gender bias.”
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8 Abe Shinzo, Prime Minister: “Fathers, Bring Your Lovers! And Mothers, Search Out Your Former Lovers and Get Them to the Ballot Box”
In what may be perhaps the weirdest sexist statement of the year, PM Abe lent support to a longstanding cultural prejudice among men: it’s okay for them to cheat in their marriage, but their wives should be chaste and tend to the home. “This,” the Committee says, “is a public affirmation of a gender-based double standard.”
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And The Winner Is…?
The winner, for a second year in a row, was Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro for his foolish statement about women slacking on their “duty” to give birth.
In second place was Abe Shinzo exhorting men to bring their mistresses to the polls, and Hirazawa Katsuei’s remarks aimed at LGBT people took the “honor” of ranking third.
