Doi Takako

Doi Takako (born November 30, 1928, Kōbe, Japan—died September 20, 2014, Hyōgo prefecture) was a Japanese politician, educator, and head (1986–91) of the Japan Socialist Party (JSP; in 1991–96 called the Social Democratic Party of Japan [SDPJ], later simplified to Social Democratic Party). She was the first woman ever to head a political party in Japan.

Doi attended Dōshisha University in Kyōto, and after her graduation she taught constitutional law there. She was elected to the House of Representatives (lower house of the Diet [parliament]) in 1969. After the JSP, the second largest party in Japan’s multiparty system, suffered a major defeat in the general elections of 1986, Doi was asked to lead the party. From the outset of her leadership she attempted to bring the party more into the mainstream on such divisive issues as national defense and nuclear power.

Doi contributed to the growth in political power of Japanese women. Although she had done little to identify with feminist issues at the outset, she helped channel the dissatisfaction of women angered by the money politics and scandals of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP). Following her “madonna strategy,” a number of women candidates succeeded in winning office in the summer elections of 1989, and for the first time in three decades the LDP lost its majority of upper-house seats to the JSP under Doi’s leadership.

Subsequent electoral reverses by her party, however, led her to resign as party leader in June 1991, although she retained her lower-house seat. In 1993, after the LDP had lost its majority in the lower house and the SDPJ had joined in a coalition government, Doi became the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. She held that post until 1996, when she became the party’s chair under its new name, the Social Democratic Party. She stepped down as chair in 2003 but remained a lower-house member until 2005, having served 12 terms in office.