A ruling party official has apologized on behalf of himself and his colleagues for shameful public display of sexism in the highest levels of Tokyo government.  It comes a week after an assemblywoman was mocked and heckled over her marital status during an assembly session. 

51-year old Akihiro Suzuki called a news conference and admitted that he was one of the ignorant clods jeering at Assemblywoman Ayaka Shiomura as she tried to explain to dumb guys in suits about some of the difficulties women face working and raising children in Japan.  When Shiomura spoke last week, Suzuki and other members of the ruling party yelled out, demanding that the 35-year old get married and have a baby, and questioning why she has not.  That night, Shiomura’s office was pelted with raw eggs.

“I do not think it is right to end this incident by blaming just Suzuki,” Shiomura said.  “There were other taunts directed at me. I think you know who it was since you were sitting nearby.  I hope you will tell me who made the other remarks.”

Whereas the men of the nationalist, conservative LDP party felt perfectly as ease acting like morons, and officials dragged their geta with a pretend investigation and refused to name the hecklers, the public is outraged.  It forced national party leaders to tell the hecklers to step forward and apologize.  So far, only Suzuki has had the guts.

The row threatens to tarnish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign to further integrate women into all levels of the Japanese workforce.  He has made greater female participation one of his top priorities to lift the Japanese economy out of two decades of doldrums.