'I didn't expect it to be so controversial': the Japanese mayor who took maternity leave

Shoko Kawata is the mayor of Yawata, a city in western Japan. When she announced she was taking maternity leave to have her baby, it made headlines across the country. No mayor in Japan had ever done this before. Her choice started a big national conversation about women, work, and family life.

Kawata said she was surprised by how much attention her decision received. "I didn't expect it to be so controversial," she told the Guardian in a video call. She explained that many people in Japan still believe workers should put their jobs ahead of their personal lives. For women, she said, that simply isn't possible when having a child — because pregnancy and childbirth affect their bodies in ways that make it impossible to keep working as usual.

Japan does have maternity leave laws for working mothers, but those laws do not cover city mayors. Because of that gap, Kawata had to create her own plan. She told the city assembly she was confident her deputy could run things smoothly while she was away. A major Japanese newspaper, the Mainichi, backed her up in an editorial, saying Japan needs to build a system where taking parental leave is completely normal.

Japan is the world's fourth-largest economy, but it ranks very low on gender equality. In the most recent Global Gender Gap Report, Japan came in 118th out of 148 countries. That is the lowest ranking of all the G7 nations — the group of the world's seven largest economies. Experts say old-fashioned ideas about gender roles are a big reason for this low score.

Women are also underrepresented in Japanese politics. Right now, only 30% of local councillors in Japan are women. Even fewer — just 1.2% — are under the age of 40. Kawata herself became Japan's youngest female mayor at age 33, after running as an independent candidate focused on improving childcare in her community.

Kawata grew up after Japan's economic bubble burst, a time when many families struggled financially. Hearing her mother talk about better times that she had never experienced herself made her curious about why things had changed. That curiosity led her to study economics at Kyoto University. After graduating, she worked as a case worker in Kyoto city, then became a political aide, and was finally elected mayor in 2023.

One of her biggest goals as mayor has been fighting depopulation — the problem of a city or country losing people over time. Her constituency, one of the smallest in its prefecture, had about 74,329 people in 2002. By April 2026, that number had dropped to 67,876. "When I took office, I really started to comprehend the seriousness of the situation," she said.

Kawata plans to return to work by December, following national guidelines for maternity leave. Since this is her first child, she isn't sure exactly what to expect. But she hopes her decision will encourage more women to enter politics in Japan. She believes that when more women hold leadership roles, governments will create better systems to help people balance careers and family life.