The mayor of a small Japanese city has become the first sitting mayor in the country’s history to take maternity leave, a landmark decision that has sparked nationwide debate over gender equality, leadership and work-life balance in one of the world’s most rapidly ageing societies.
Shoko Kawata, the 35-year-old mayor of Yawata, a city of about 69,000 people in Kyoto Prefecture, officially began her maternity leave on Monday. Kawata, who became Japan’s youngest female mayor when she was elected in 2023 at the age of 33, said she had always planned to have children while serving in office. However, because no maternity leave protocol existed for elected mayors, she was forced to create one herself.
Yawata city employees are entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave, but no equivalent arrangement previously existed for the mayor’s office. Kawata said discovering she was the first serving mayor in Japan to take maternity leave highlighted the lack of women in political leadership.
“I was very surprised myself to learn that I am the first mayor to take maternity leave,” Kawata told Reuters. “It made me realise that until now there simply haven’t been many young women, or women in general, who have become mayors.”
The decision attracted widespread media attention and sparked mixed reactions across Japan. While many residents and colleagues supported her decision, Kawata said she was disappointed by criticism on social media, where some accused her of neglecting her responsibilities.
“Some people criticised me online, suggesting that I wasn’t doing my job and was just there to take maternity leave. That was disappointing,” she said.
One of Kawata’s final public appearances before beginning her leave came during a street procession ahead of Yawata’s Taiko Festival on Friday, July 17. Rather than riding atop the traditional mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine), she walked behind it because of her advanced pregnancy. Her baby is due in September.
Japan continues to struggle with one of the world’s lowest birth rates and a rapidly ageing population. The country ranked 118th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report and 125th in political empowerment, underscoring the limited representation of women in public office. Kawata argued that Japan must do more to support parents in leadership positions if it hopes to reverse its demographic decline.
Her decision has become a symbol of the broader debate over gender equality and workplace reform in Japan, with supporters saying it could encourage more women to pursue political careers while balancing family life.
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