What the Government Is Doing
In February 1998, at his policy speech at the 142nd ordinary session of the Diet, then Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro made a remarkable speech in which he stated he would submit a bill regarding a Gender Equal Society to an ordinary session of the Diet in 1999. Behind this speech was the outcry of women who attended the 4th World Women Conference in 1995. It is worth noting that the Liberal Democratic Party (under Hashimoto), the Social Democratic Party (under Doi Takako), which made a coalition until 1997, and the New Party, Sakigake (leader, Domoto Akiko) all reached agreement on this issue. The fact that two of these three leaders were women is profoundly significant for Japan. At the end of 1996 the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality was established and in June, 1997 the Council for Gender Equality and Meeting of Coordinators for Gender Equality was set up, based on the Prime Minister's request for advice.
In 1998, a subcommittee composed of professors, company experts and lawyers was established. Public interest was so notable that public hearings held at six places in Japan were packed and the number of opinion letters to Prime Minister's office exceeded four thousand.
Due to the LDP's defeat in the House of Councilors election held in July, Obuchi Keizo took over as Prime Minster. He decided to maintain the policies of former Prime Minister Hashimoto regarding the national plan; that plan will be submitted to him at a later date.
What Local Governments Are Doing
The effectiveness of the law depends upon how well people are able to apply it. Several local governments serve as good examples of how Ordinances for Promoting Gender Equality can be used. Saitama Prefecture made it the subject of the Saitama Five Year Plan. They will submit a draft for the Ordinance by next year. Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in their 'Long-term Strategies for Resident-friendly Tokyo,' look upon is enactment as one of their principal goals.
In addition, the government organized a professional committee, the core of which is the Council for Women Issues, to give consideration to enactment of Act of Promotion of Gender Equality and to submit the bill to the Metropolitan Government.
What NGOs are Doing
The network campaigning for the law at the Metropolitan area represents the NGOs, many composed of members of councils of women's issues of local governments, and sharing its activities with NGOs and people in administration. The purpose of its activities is for civilians related to gender administration in metropolitan areas or corporations, to share information and exchange their ideas and opinions. It considers the contents of the administration and discusses the issue of linkage of gender equality law and local acts. The network also holds symposiums and dialogues with governments to spread its activities nationwide. The peculiarity of the project style is due to the three players working together on one project.
The Beijing Japan Accountability Caucus (Beijing JAC) is the NGO which came out of the Fourth World Conference on Women to generate and propose policies. One of the purposes of the Beijing JAC is to help pass the law of gender equality and to establish a fully coordinated administrative institution. After a number of discussions regarding the contents of the law among NGOs, the Beijing JAC submitted a report recommending the abolishment of gender discrimination and the establishment of an ombudsperson to Government. The NGO will call people's attention to their upcoming meeting in order to take further actions with local governments. Besides the organizations mentioned here, there are a number of NGOs doing various legal aid activities. 'Network for International Women's Year' has presented a brief on the law of gender equality and 'Committee for Women's General Strike' recently conducted a demonstration in front of the Diet with a demand for legislation on the law. This NGO, which designed the framework of the law regarding gender equality, has also held a symposium regarding the issue.
