The shocking sexual assault case that shows the reality of being a woman in Japan
The treatment of a female politician in a rural town has highlighted the country's dubious record on gender equality
10 December 2020 • 2:28pm
One wintry Thursday morning nearly six years ago, Shoko Arai made her way into a meeting with the mayor of Kusatsu, a small Japanese mountain town north west of Tokyo, famed for its hot spring onsen bathing.
At the time, she was the only female member on Kusatsu’s town assembly, an impressive feat in Japan’s long male-dominated political landscape, especially in conservative rural enclaves.