Two outstanding women, who became the first female judge and the first cabinet minister respectively.

(Posted on August 21, 2024)

There is a morning TV drama, which runs for 15 minutes Monday through Friday for six months on NHK (Nihon Hoso Kyoukai, a national TV station). The current series started April depicts Mibuchi Yoshiko (1914-1984), the first female judge. Let’s go through Mibuchi’s feats.

Mibuchi was born in Singapore, when her father was working for a bank there. She studied law and became the first female attorney in 1940. At that time, women were not eligible to become judges nor prosecutors. As a result of Japan’s defeat in 1945, a sea of change took place in all systems including legal matters and practices. So, Mibuchi managed to become the first female judge in 1952. One of her notable feats was a verdict as one of the judges for a high-profile case in 1963, in which the plaintiffs, atomic bomb victims, filed a suit against the Japanese government for compensation. The verdict went against the plaintiffs on the grounds that they did not have a legal claim. But it did state that the atomic bomb dropping was in violation of international law. It also urged the Japanese government to step up necessary measures to assist and support the A-bomb victims. The government complied and took actions accordingly.

Mabuchi participated in many family court cases and in 1972 became the chief justice at the Niigata family court. Then she became a chief justice at different district courts. Mabuchi retired as a judge in 1979. She became an attorney then and worked as an advocate for the female legal profession. Mabuchi had a son, who was a biology researcher.

Nakayama Masa (1891-1976) was born to an American father and a Japanese mother in Nagasaki. In 1911, Nakayama went to the US and

graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1947, she went into politics by becoming a member of the House of Representatives (the lower house). In 1960, Nakayama became the first female minister of welfare of the Ikeda cabinet. Although her stint as the minster was only five months, she managed to realize giving assistance to fatherless families. She resigned in 1969. Hand in hand with a politician husband, Masa left the legacy of a political family: her eldest son was a minister of foreign affairs, her fourth son was a member of the lower house, and his son in turn is now a member of the lower house!