Japan Stirred as Heavily Pregnant Mayor Takes Maternity Leave Despite "Irresponsible" Backlash

A female mayor in Japan has gone on a four-month maternity leave. As this is the first time for a local government head to do so, it has drawn accusations of being irresponsible, with even calls for her resignation. Because there have been so few female elected officials, there were no regulations in place for it. There are many things for us to consider as well.

Tokyo correspondent Mun Junmo reports.



Yawata, Kyoto, is in the middle of traditional festival season.

The woman leading the way while heavily pregnant is Mayor Kawata Shoko.

Elected as the country's youngest mayor three years ago, she announced her pregnancy last May and declared that she would take maternity leave.

[Kawata Shoko / Mayor of Yawata: I found out about the pregnancy earlier this year, and I plan to take maternity leave.]

This single remark sparked nationwide controversy.

This is because no local government head in Japanese constitutional history had ever taken maternity leave, and there were no related regulations.

Online communities were flooded with criticisms calling her irresponsible and demanding her resignation.

However, Mayor Kawata argued that this is essentially no different from excluding women of childbearing age from high-ranking positions, and she went on a four-month maternity leave on the 20th.

[Kawata Shoko / Mayor of Yawata: We must become a society where people are not forced to choose between dedicating themselves to work, or giving birth and focusing on family.]

The very absence of maternity leave regulations stems from the extremely small number of female elected officials.

As of the end of last year, female local government heads in Japan accounted for only 4.3% of regional autonomous bodies and 3.7% of basic local governments.

Although the House of Representatives introduced maternity leave for lawmakers in June of last year, when lawmaker Igarashi Eri of the Constitutional Democratic Party became the first to apply for leave four months later, she suffered a barrage of messages urging her resignation.

In South Korea, elected officials are similarly not classified as workers under the Labor Standards Act, meaning there are no clear regulations regarding maternity leave.

During the 20th National Assembly, former lawmaker Shin Bo-ra, and during the 21st National Assembly, former lawmaker Lee Su-jin proposed amendments to the National Assembly Act to explicitly stipulate maternity leave for lawmakers, but they failed to pass the parliamentary threshold.

In the Global Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum last year, South Korea ranked 101st out of 148 countries, while Japan ranked 118th.

(Video reporting: Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin | Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki | Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.