TOKYO (AP) – Japanese newspapers splashed front-page photos on Tuesday of a male Tokyo assemblyman bowing deeply to a female colleague after admitting that he had heckled her with a sexist remark last week.
The uproar over the rude comments aimed at Ayaka Shiomura by several male lawmakers reflects both greater awareness of women’s issues and the pervasiveness of traditional chauvinist attitudes in business and political circles.
The latter poses a major challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal of greater advancement for Japan’s well-educated but underemployed women, a mainstay in his arsenal of strategies for reviving the economy.
“I must admit that it’s a very difficult environment for women to work,” the 35-year-old Shiomura said at a news conference Tuesday. “Everything is run by the male standard, and naturally, that’s the kind of environment that caused the problem.”
Shiomura’s complaints about the heckling, through Facebook and Twitter, triggered a vehement public reaction and a petition drive demanding the hecklers be punished. “I really hope that the latest incident will provide an incentive for a change so that the same problem will never be repeated,” she said.