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Doi Takako (1928- )
 One
of the most prominent women in 20th century Japanese politics,
Doi Takako took on the prevalent sexist thinking of the day in
1969 to enter the Diet as a member of the Japan Socialist Party
(known as the Social
Democratic Party of Japan, or SDP, from 1991). During her time as leader,
she transformed the party and made it into a relevant political force,
though since the turn of the century it has greatly declined and is
now a minor party.
In her early years, Doi planned to follow in the footsteps of
her physician father. She later changed tack and studied law at
the prestigious Doshisha University. After an almost 20-year career
as a university lecturer, Doi one day came across an erroneous
report in her local newspaper that said she was running for a
seat in the Lower House. When she visited the Mayor's office to
clarify the situation, she was greeted with the remark "Well of
course. You would be stupid to run in a race that you have no
chance of winning!" Angered by the sexist implication, she vowed
to get herself elected. Which she did - for seven consecutive
terms.
At first, she was less than popular among her predominantly male
colleagues, who questioned her lack of femininity and her single
status. She described her struggles in her biography 'My Way'.
But standing at 170cm and armed with a husky voice and formidable
debating skills, she was more than a match for her male counterparts.
Also, her sunny disposition and straight talking won her considerable
popularity among the general public. On the basis of her popular
support, she was chosen as party chairwoman in 1986 - the first
woman ever to lead a major political organization in Japan. A
wave of Doi fever known as the 'Madonna Boom' swept the country
carrying with it many women into political careers. As leader
she moved the party away from its extremist Marxist-Leninist ideology
to a more centrist position and also exposed many financial and
sex scandals in the ruling LDP.
1989 saw her first major political battle: her party led the opposition
to a new 3% sales tax proposed by the LDP. The tax was introduced
and later the LDP was voted in once again but with considerable
losses against major wins for the JSP causing her to utter her
famous line "The mountain has moved." She then led her party to
a stunning victory over the long-dominant LDP in the 1993 elections.
Hosokawa Morihiro became Prime Minister and Doi was chosen as Speaker of the House.
A new era of change, liberalism and clean, open government was
predicted by the media. But the powerful bureaucracy and the old
warhorses of the LDP were not beaten yet. Hosokawa was forced
to resign in 1994 under suspicious circumstances and replaced
by the SDP's Murayama Tomiichi. The controversial sales tax was increased to 5% and the LDP
eventually worked its way back into power.
Doi's tenure as Speaker ended in 1996 and she returned to the
leadership of her party. The SDP's independent stance in an era
of coalitions meant a move back into the political wings. Doi resigned
as leader in 2003, taking responsibility for significant election
losses, and the party's decline has continued since.
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