Politics meets porn in Japan

Mari Miura, a political science professor at Sophia University, said it is unfair to lump the female DPJ members together. She and others pointed to Eriko Fukuda, the hepatitis activist, as an up-and-coming star who inspired voters with her personal story.

“Some say these women are just window-dressing. I don’t agree,” Miura said. “There are inexperienced women within the 26 politicians. But there are some experienced people, too.”

Miura called the DPJ more committed than the LDP to women’s rights issues. The party recently announced it would put forward a bill to change the Japanese Civil Code to allow married women to keep their maiden names and still receive full marital benefits.

“The new political situation in Japan requires more public support and candidates who are unaffiliated with the same old ties to business,” said Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation. “The female candidates are more appealing. Half the electorate is female and they are frustrated with a male-dominated society.”

But Shindo, the gender studies professor, criticized the DPJ women for offering few concrete policy proposals. Isogai “said she would like to do something in terms of ‘freeters,’ but that means nothing,” Shindo said. “If she said, ‘Because of my experience, I am for equal pay for equal work,’ that’s good. But she does not have that idea.”

For her part, Isogai was still getting used to the attention that comes with public office. It wasn’t all bad. After her well-documented shopping trip, a woman sent her a package containing five new suits and a dress from Burberry.

“They are a little big,” Isogai said with a smile, “but I think they will work out fine.”
 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/091001/politics-meets-porn-Japan