The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's move last week to effectively close the book on the issue of the sexist jeering of a female assembly member raises doubts as to whether the assembly is taking the issue seriously or merely wants to lay the blame on the one assemblyman who grudgingly came forward and apologized for making at least some of the taunts.
The assembly closed its June session last Wednesday after voting down a resolution calling for the identification of the members who hurled sexist taunts at Ayaka Shiomura, a member of Your Party. During a plenary session debate on June 18, when Shiomura was asking questions about the metropolitan government's policies on maternity support measures for women, her attackers taunted her, shouting "You should get married first" and "Can't you have babies?" According to Shiomura, it sounded like the jeers came from more than one assembly member. As she was taken aback by the taunts, laughter spread among the members.
The issue came to light after Shiomura spoke to reporters and tweeted about it the following day, resulting in widespread condemnation of the sexist taunts. It was also taken up by media overseas.