When a municipal lawmaker, Yuka Ogata, brought her 7-month-old baby to her job in a male-dominated legislature, she was met with such surprise and consternation by her male colleagues that eventually, she and the baby were asked to leave. Officials of the Kumamoto Municipal Assembly, of which she's a member, said although there's no rule prohibiting infants, they booted her citing a rule that visitors are forbidden from the floor. It's a far different response by a legislative body than in Australia, where Sen. Larissa Waters was able to breast-feed her baby on the floor of Parliament. Ogata, who was able to return to the session alone, expected this kind of response in rules-bound Japan. The plenary session was her first after giving birth to her son, who stayed quiet during his time on the floor with his mom. She said she wanted to highlight the plight of working moms in her country, which ranks near the bottom on scores for gender equality — especially in politics and business.
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