ABSTRACT
The majority of social issues dealt with on a daily basis, such as child-rearing, education, elderly-care, the declining fertility rate and the sound development of youth are the responsibilities of women, and in particular housewives. According to Phillips, women often bring different agendas to the political table as a result of the different ways men and women have been socialised. The importance of more women in politics lies in women's ability to bring to the political agenda perspectives they have gained from their roles as mothers, wives, careers to the elderly and members of their local community. Women engaged in politics, be it mainstream politics or activist politics, often refer to themselves as seikatsusha or claim to have an 'understanding of daily life'. The early career of former LDP Diet member Tanaka Makiko, whose political success came shortly after the 'Madonna boom', demonstrates the gap between seikatsusha discourses of political womanhood and reality.
