Record 314 female candidates apply to run for Japan's House of Representatives

This is a record high for the number of women running for office in any survey in the Lower House elections in Japan under the current Constitution.

The total number of female candidates increased by 70% compared to 187 in the previous Lower House election in 2021. In percentage terms, female candidates increased by 5.6 percentage points to 23.4% but still fell short of the Japanese government's target of reaching 35% by 2025. The previous record was 229 female candidates set in the 2009 election.

The number of female candidates backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rose from 22 to 55, accounting for 16.1 percent of the LDP's total. This also marks a record high for the LDP since Japan introduced the current dual system, which combines single-seat constituencies and proportional representation blocs for the lower house in 1996. Meanwhile, the LDP's ally in the ruling bloc, Komeito, fielded eight female candidates, accounting for 16 percent.

Among the opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) has 53 female candidates, accounting for 22.4%, the Japan Communist Party (JCP) has 88 candidates, accounting for 37.3%, the Nippon Ishin no Kai has 29 candidates, accounting for 17.7%, and the Democratic Party for the People has 9 candidates, accounting for 21.4%.

The average age of the candidates was 54.2 years old, about the same as in the previous election. The average age was 55.2 years old for the LDP, 55.1 years old for the CDP, 50.9 years old for Nippon Ishin no Kai, 51.2 years old for Komeito, and 57.8 years old for the JCP.

By age group, those in their 50s made up the largest proportion of total applicants, at 27.5%, followed by those in their 40s at 25.4%, those in their 60s at 24.6%, those in their 70s at 10.4%, those in their 30s at 10.0%, those in their 20s at only 1.6%, and those in their 80s and older at 0.6%.