美国国家公共电台 NPR Women Are Making Their Voices Heard In Male-Dominated Japanese Politics

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Now to politics across the Pacific, where the minority party in Japan's parliament is also led by a woman. NPR's Elise Hu in Tokyo reports on the political rise of women in Japan.

ELISE HU, BYLINE¹: At this monthly Tokyo networking lunch, anyone with a $30 entry fee can show up to meet potential clients, trade business cards and enjoy a big meal.

YUKARI NAKAYAMA: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: "I got certified² recently as a closet organizer," Yukari Nakayama says. "So here, I'm trying to look for clients and to expand my business." Nakayama left the workforce³ after her son was born nearly 20 years ago. Now she's trying to break back in using the skills she learned from all those years at home.

NAKAYAMA: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: "Closet organizing works well because I've had so much experience being a housewife," she says. Nakayama's path is common. Labor⁴ force participation⁵ among Japanese women is 4 out of 10, far below the U.S. Lack of child care options in Japan and cultural pressure for women to take on household duties means it's the moms here who drop out of work. It touches every part of society, including politics, as Kyoto University diplomacy⁶ professor Nancy Snow explains.

NANCY SNOW: Women have not really been coached or mentored⁷ or encouraged to take on leadership roles. Also, women aren't allowed to often show ambition, to sort of telegraph that. I was...

HU: Culturally?

SNOW: Yeah, culturally.

HU: In official registries, married women, to this day, are listed along with children as part of a man's household. If they're single, that of their parents.

SNOW: I think it really goes back to the social hierarchy⁸, the way that it's been for decades.

HU: But signs of change are showing up in politics. Tokyo is now led by its first-ever female governor, Yuriko Koike. Japan's new defense⁹ minister, Tomomi Inada, is only the second woman to ever hold the role. And Japan's opposition¹⁰ Democratic Party is, for the first time, led by a woman. She's a former journalist named Renho Murata.

RENHO MURATA: (Through interpreter) Twenty-three years ago, when I was a newscaster, I interviewed an important member of the ruling party. He said to me frankly¹¹ that he doesn't think wives should even speak about politics.

HU: More than two decades have passed since that conversation, but today women still represent fewer than 15 percent of all seats in Japan's Parliament. That's compared to 20 percent in the U.S. Congress. Renho says she's hoping to use her position to help get more women elected.

MURATA: (Through interpreter) We don't have enough women to raise their hands.

HU: What was it in your personality that made you raise your hand?

MURATA: (Through interpreter) It all began for me when I was raising two children. In a society that complains about not having enough children, the government wasn't offering any support. That made me want to become a politician.

HU: But cultural biases¹² persist. Renho's bra size was listed on her Wikipedia page. Mayor Koike was criticized during her race for wearing too much makeup¹³. And top-down efforts to increase participation of women in higher levels have fallen short. Japan's government conceded last year it wouldn't reach its goal of getting women into 30 percent of management roles by 2020. Women are so outnumbered in business that the fact they're working at all is a story. Nancy Snow calls it discouraging.

SNOW: And I look forward, in this century - and it may take a while - for it to be just the case that a woman is in power in government here or in industry and she just happens to be a woman.

HU: For now, the few women in power are proving to be rather fearless.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE: (Speaking Japanese).

(APPLAUSE)

HU: In a notable exchange with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month, Renho stood up against casino legislation that was rushed through Parliament. Facing the prime minister on the floor, Renho said...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MURATA: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: "...You seem to lie as often as you breathe." Abe chuckled¹⁴ but didn't bother to respond.

Back at the networking lunch, The former stay-at-home mom, Nakayama, says seeing the election of these women is a step forward.

NAKAYAMA: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: "But until we see what they're actually going to do," she says, "it's hard to say what this means for Japanese women overall."

Elise Hu, NPR News, Tokyo.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

7 mentored   

v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They had a fantastic dean who really mentored a lot of people. 那儿的教务长非常出色，的确为许多人提供了指导。 来自互联网
• The famous professor mentored him during his years in graduate school. 那位著名的教授在他读研究生期间指导他。 来自互联网

8 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

12 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

13 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

14 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。