For all the talk of Japan’s low position in gender equality rankings, the country’s political and economic heart looks certain to have a woman in charge for more than a decade.
The race to become governor of Tokyo has officially kicked off, and is set to determine who will control a region that makes up more than 20% of the nation’s economy and carries a $100 billion budget, about the size of Sweden’s. More than 50 candidates are vying for votes, but the choice is set to come down to one of two women in a battle of celebrity former newscasters.
Incumbent Yuriko Koike, a former journalist, news anchor and defense minister, is vying for a third term, having become the first woman to lead the capital in 2016. But this time she’s facing Renho Saito, a one-time swimsuit model, TV announcer and leader of Japan’s opposition, who might be the only female politician in the country with a profile to match the governor’s.
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