|
Post by Admin on Jul 31, 2016 18:46:18 GMT
Voters in Tokyo, Japan Sunday elected the city's first woman governor who promised a new era of clean politics after two predecessors quit over money scandals that have hindered the city's preparations to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games. "I am pushing for a Tokyo where people's lives will be better, and everyone can shine, men and women, children and adults, the elderly and the disabled," Yuriko Koike said after media exit polls declared her the winner. Koike, who previously served as Japan's defense minister, was elected out of a field of 21 candidates. One of Koike's first tasks will be to travel to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as the representative of the city that will host the next games in 2020. The games in Tokyo are key to the recovery of Japan's economy, the world's third largest, which has been stagnant for more than a decade. Planning for the 2020 Tokyo games have been plagued with problems, including skyrocketing costs, delays in the design and construction of the main stadium, and the need to redesign the Tokyo Olympics logo after the original design was reportedly plagiarized. Koike, 64, angered the Tokyo branch of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party by not getting its approval before announcing her candidacy for city governor. The LDP instead drafted Masuda, 64, who once served as governor of a rural prefecture. "Taking this result very heavily, as the new governor I would like move forward firmly with the administration of the metropolis," Koike, an experienced politician fluent in English and Arabic, told supporters. "I would like to move forward with a metropolitan administration such as has never happened, never been seen, together with all of you."
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2016 18:41:52 GMT
Tokyo has elected its first female governor, the Arabic-speaking environmentalist and North Korea hawk Yuriko Koike. A former Japanese defense minister, the 64-year-old received over a million votes more than her nearest rival, Hiroya Masuda, who was backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Koike, who previously broke glass ceilings as Japan's first female defense chief, is one of only three women currently serving as governor of one of the country's 47 prefectures. In her campaign, Koike referenced Joan of Arc and anime character Sally the , and vowed to overcome childcare shortages and push female-friendly policies "so that both women and men can shine in Tokyo." Japanese society is still heavily male-dominated in both politics and business. The World Economic Forum ranks the country 101st out of 145 in terms of gender equality, and only 9.5% of Japan's House of Representatives are women, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 3, 2016 18:39:03 GMT
Her victory as the first women to take on the governorship of Tokyo—the world’s most populous metropolitan area—has drawn particular attention both inside and outside of Japan. Japanese politics continues to be dominated by men, with women comprising just 9 percent of all national-level lawmakers. Her independent campaign was met with intense negative campaigning, featuring harsh sexist language. Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo’s former longtime governor and ultraconservative LDP stalwart, had warned voters that ”We cannot leave Tokyo to a woman with too much make-up.” Despite the sexist backlash to her candidacy, Koike triumphed, remarking that she was “used to it.” Addressing perceptions that Japan continues to have setbacks for working women, unlike other advanced democracies, Koike vowed to support policies that would promote better workplace conditions for women. “I received so much support from women this election. The support made me think deeply that I have a responsibility to work on the issues of waiting lines for day care centers, elderly care, and work-life balance,” she told the press. Koike has specifically pledged to increase daycare facilities for working Japanese women, buttressing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s national-level efforts to increase women’s labor force participation within Tokyo. Abe, unlike lower-level and retired LDP politicians, did not speak either in favor of or against Koike’s candidacy. Devin Stewart, a Japan expert at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, told The Diplomat that, in the context of the LDP’s broader position in Japanese politics, Koike’s victory was significant “because it shows that the ruling LDP is not invulnerable.” Stewart added that Koike’s triumph as an independent “shows that candidates who are relatively outsiders can make ground in Japan.” Ultimately, Koike’s win, while no doubt a significant milestone for women’s political participation in Japan, leaves her responsible for stewarding Tokyo past the financial scandals of her predecessors as the city prepares for the Olympics. If she resists scandal and lasts the four year term she has been elected to, she will remain in office through the start of the Tokyo Olympics. It remains to be seen if Koike will use her pulpit as the leader of Japan’s most important city to have her voice heard on the national stage. Moreover, given the difficult months of campaigning and her effective isolation from the LDP for the duration of the campaign, Koike could challenge the ruling party’s perceived dominance on the national stage. Much will depend on how the new governor decides to begin her term.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2016 18:35:06 GMT
As the 2016 Olympics' closing ceremony wound down on Sunday night, a final event took place before the Olympic torch was extinguished — the passing of the flag. Honoring a long-standing Olympic tradition, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes passed the flag to a special guest at the Games: Yuriko Koike. If this isn't a tradition you're familiar with, though, you may be asking: who is Yuriko Koike, and what's she doing at the Olympics? Koike is the governor of Tokyo, and she's actually the city's first female governor. Koike, a former defense minister, will be leading Japan's capital into the next Olympic Games. She was voted into power at the beginning of August and received over 2.9 million votes, according to the BBC, winning the election by a substantial amount. She'll have an uphill battle to deal with: the city will need to reign in a few financial problems that have sprung up thanks to Tokyo's preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games. (Costs are expected to be double or triple the original $7 billion budget.) According to The Washington Post, Koike has previously compared herself to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and said she admires Margaret Thatcher. "I would like to move forward with a metropolitan administration such as has never happened, never been seen, together with all of you," she told Tokyo when she was voted in, according to The Washington Post.
|
|