Japanese society is divided after the 35-year-old female mayor of Yawata City announced she would take a temporary leave of absence to give birth. She is the first female mayor in Japan to take maternity leave despite the lack of supporting legislation.
Japanese society is currently engaged in intense debate after Shoko Kawata, the 35-year-old mayor of Yawata City, announced a temporary leave to give birth. This made her Japan’s first female mayor to take maternity leave and sparked questions about whether elected politicians should have the same rights to parental leave as regular employees.
This issue has drawn significant attention amid Japan’s low birth rate crisis as the country seeks incentives to encourage family formation. Following the announcement, many Japanese people expressed their opinions on social media platforms such as X and YouTube.
Supporters argue that pregnancy and child-rearing are challenging and that Japanese society should have systems more supportive of women. Many praised Kawata for valuing both family and career, viewing her as a role model encouraging more women to enter politics.
Opponents see a temporary leave by an elected official as irresponsible. Some went so far as to say that those wanting children should have them before running for office, while others suggested reducing her salary during the leave.
Following intense criticism, Kawata revealed she was very surprised and did not expect her maternity leave announcement to become a national issue. She said that if society refuses to accept maternity leave for politicians, it effectively excludes women of childbearing age from politics. She stated, “If we criticize politicians who take maternity leave, we are closing the door to women aged 20 to 40, who can become pregnant, from holding political positions.”
She emphasized that she wants to see a society where women can both work and have families simultaneously without being forced to choose one over the other.
In May, Shoko Kawata announced she would take about two months off before childbirth and another two months after, with her due date in mid-September.
However, Japan currently lacks laws supporting maternity leave for local political officeholders, so she cannot officially take maternity leave. Instead, she assigned Deputy Mayor Shigeto Nose to act as mayor during her absence.
Kawata was elected mayor at just 33 years old, making her the youngest female mayor in Japan. She graduated in economics from Kyoto University before entering local politics.
Although Japan is the world’s fourth-largest economy, women hold very few political leadership positions. Recent data shows that only about 4% of over 1,720 local government leaders are women.
A 2025 Cabinet Office survey found major barriers preventing women from entering politics include pregnancy, beliefs that politics is a man’s role, and experiences of sexual harassment or workplace harassment.
Additionally, the 2025 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report ranked Japan 118th out of 146 countries, marking it as the lowest in gender equality among the G7 industrialized nations.
Deputy Mayor Shigeto Nose, who will act in Kawata’s absence, said this case will be an important test of whether Japan can design a system that allows women to be leaders and have families at the same time.
Nose admitted that when he had children, he never took leave to help his wife care for them. However, his son-in-law recently took six months off to help care for their second child, reflecting changing societal values.
,BBC
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