TOKYO -- The number of women running for seats in Japan's lower house election on Sunday failed to rise despite it being the first parliamentary election held under a 2018 law that urges political parties to even up the number of male and female candidates.
While women made up 17.7% of all candidates, the ratio of those to successful candidates of all seats came to 9.7%, down from 10.1% in the previous election. The number of female candidates failed to rise, particularly in the governing Liberal Democratic Party.
