Japan

House of Representatives

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members
465
Women
73
Percentage of women
15.7%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body Theme Name Sex Age
Committee on Judicial Affairs Human rights Chinami Nishimura Female 57

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2024-11)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 4 20 44 61 124 109 28 2 0 392
Female 0 0 12 7 9 27 13 5 0 0 73
Totals per age interval 0 4 32 51 70 151 122 33 2 0 465
Total <= 45: 87 Total >= 46: 378
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.9% 0.9% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
7.7% 5% 2.6%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
18.7% 15% 4.1%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
No

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament
1946

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker
1993

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote
1945
Restricted or universal suffrage
Restricted
Detail of restrictions
Only for elections to the Lower house
Women’s right to vote
1947
Restricted or universal suffrage
Universal

Notes: Women exercised their right to vote for the first time in 10 April 1946

Women's right to stand for election
1945
Restricted or universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions
Women only allowed to stand for lower house elections
Women's right to stand for election
1947
Restricted or universal
Universal

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No