Underrepresentation of Women in Japanese Politics with Comparative Reference to Taiwan

This article examines the underrepresentation of women in Japanese politics through a comparative analysis of two cases: Japan’s lower house in the National Diet and Taiwan’s unicameral legislature. Although both cases adopted the Mixed-Member Majoritarian (MMM) electoral system—Japan in 1994 and Taiwan in 2005—their outcomes diverged significantly. While female representation in Taiwan surged following electoral reform, Japan’s progress remained stagnant. Despite minimal voter bias against female candidates in both cases, Japan continues to experience significant underrepresentation of women. This study explores two key factors driving these contrasting outcomes: the historical sequence of events and how political actors adapt to opportunities shaped by those events. It highlights two major turning points—the Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952) and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s retreat to Taiwan in 1949—as critical junctures that set each case on distinct paths. This study argues that the interplay between historical conditions and women’s activism is mutually reinforcing, ultimately shaping the divergent trajectories of female political representation in Japan and Taiwan.