MATSUE -- The secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s local chapter in west Japan commented at an Oct. 21 meeting here, "I find it a little disappointing that five of six candidates running in Shimane Prefecture this time are women."

In the Oct. 27 House of Representatives election, three women are running in Shimane Prefecture's No. 1 district including an LDP candidate, while two women are running for opposition parties against one male LDP candidate in the prefecture's No. 2 constituency. After commenting on the abundance of female candidates in the prefecture, Shigeru Sonoyama, the LDP prefectural chapter secretary-general and prefectural assembly member, stated, "I believe that this is a sign that women have been sought, not only by my family, but by society as a whole."

Sonoyama made the comments toward the end of the meeting where Yoshiko Ishiba, the wife of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, held a talk.

After the conference, Sonoyama told the Mainichi Shimbun, "Politics, social activities and other things have been done by men, but that is no longer so. I meant that it was deeply moving."

(Japanese original by Hayato Matsubara, Matsue Bureau)