‘I didn’t expect it to be so controversial’: the Japanese mayor who took maternity leave

Shoko Kawata, the mayor of the western city of Yawata. She will take maternity leave later this year, a decision unheard for a mayor in Japan. Photograph: Yawata City

In many other nations, no one would blink an eye. But when Japanese mayor Shoko Kawata announced she was taking maternity leave, her decision made headline news, spawned opinion polls and sparked a national debate.

And that debate is still unfolding in Japan, ever since she revealed her decision in May. On Monday, she told the assembly in the western city of Yawata she was confident her deputy could run things smoothly while she was away.