Key facts
- Shoko Kawata, mayor of Yawata, Japan, is the first sitting mayor in the country to take maternity leave.
- Kawata, 33, was elected Japan's youngest female mayor in 2023.
- While city employees are guaranteed 16 weeks of maternity leave, no protocol existed for the mayoral position.
- Japan ranks 118th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum's gender gap report.
- Some online criticism suggested Kawata was not doing her job and was only taking maternity leave.
- A local resident supported the leave but questioned receiving 100% salary while on leave.
Shoko Kawata, the mayor of Yawata, Japan, has made history by becoming the first sitting mayor in the country to take maternity leave. The decision, made as she prepared to give birth in September, has garnered international attention and sparked debate at home regarding gender equality in politics and Japan's declining birth rate.
Kawata, who became Japan's youngest female mayor at 33 in 2023, noted that while Yawata city employees are guaranteed 16 weeks of maternity leave, no such protocol existed for the mayoral position. She expressed surprise at being the first mayor to take such leave, highlighting the scarcity of young women, or women in general, in mayoral roles.
Her last public duty before her leave involved participating in a street procession for the Yawata Taiko festival, where she walked behind the traditional portable Shinto shrine due to her pregnancy, deviating from the tradition of riding atop it.
The story underscores Japan's significant gender gap, particularly in its male-dominated political sphere, where it ranked 118th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum's gender gap report and 125th in political empowerment. Kawata emphasized the need for societal reforms to encourage people in all professions, including leadership roles, to have children, warning that continued population decline and economic deterioration are inevitable otherwise.
While Kawata stated that most local residents and her colleagues supported her decision, she was disappointed by some online criticism. Some critics suggested she was not fulfilling her duties and was merely taking advantage of maternity leave. Most interviewed Yawata residents expressed support, though one homemaker, Chie Fujita, while agreeing with the right to take leave, questioned the mayor receiving 100% of her salary during this period.