Born: 3 September 1960), Japan
Died: NA
Country most active: Japan
Also known as: 野田 聖子, Noda Seiko
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Japan’s low birthrate has been a matter of concern for years. In 2018, a Japanese member of Parliament said young Japanese women should have more children or face being a burden on the state in their old age, completely disregarding all the countless reasons—many of them caused or controlled by men—that those women were not having children. Placing the blame on women removes it entirely from the shoulders of men who have the power to make change—such as, say, a member of Parliament.
In 2022, the prime minister replaced Seiko Noda, the minister in charge of addressing the issue, with a childless man. Noda, a mother of one, criticised the male-dominated government for their “indifference and ignorance” in failing to address the problem. Her replacement’s best effort at understanding women seems to be a publicity stunt where he tried on a fake pregnancy belly.