SHIMAMOTO, Osaka Pref. -- A small office near Minase Station on the Hankyu Line was filled with applauding women late Sunday night as eight female candidates triumphed in the Shimamoto Municipal Assembly election.

The 18-member Shimamoto assembly now has a higher percentage of women than any other local legislature in Japan.

"I think it is a big step toward creating a local assembly where the number of women and men is the same," remarked Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a Lower House member of the Social Democratic Party.