INTERVIEW: Women's Expectations for Takaichi Turn to Disappointment

Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)--Expectations among women for Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, have turned into disappointment over the past year, Shin Ki-young, a professor at the Institute for Gender Studies at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, said in a recent interview.

"Women and younger voters who were not traditional supporters of the Liberal Democratic Party had high expectations for Takaichi because she was a woman and appeared to represent a change in the party's image," Shin said of the Japanese ruling party. "Those expectations may now have given way to disappointment."

The approval rating for Takaichi's cabinet among women dropped to 42.9 pct from 65.9 pct when she took office a year ago, according to a Jiji Press opinion poll.

"The decline in support among women, who initially backed the cabinet more strongly than men, has weighed on its overall approval rating," Shin said.

There is no prominent figure either within the LDP or in the opposition camp who could replace Takaichi, Shin said, adding this means that active support for the prime minister has waned.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]