Japan elected a record 54 women to parliamentary seats in the country’s elections this weekend. The newly elected candidates bring the total percentage of women in the Japanese House of Representatives to 11 percent, a 2 percent increase, reported Agence France Presse.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost power after a massive landslide victory by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The LDP had dominated Japanese politics and government for more than fifty years. The DPJ secured 308 of 480 parliamentary seats and the LDP now holds just 119 seats. Forty of the newly elected women representatives belong to the DPJ, according to the Guardian UK.
The DPJ ran on vows of ending wasting governmental spending, improving the economy, raising the minimum wage, and creating a child allowance.
