TARUMIZU, Kagoshima Prefecture--Misuzu Ikeda finally broke through the glass ceiling to become the first woman elected to the assembly in this Kyushu city in more than six decades on April 21.

Ikeda, 45, will join an assembly dominated by male members since the city was established in 1958.

After being told of her triumph at 10 p.m. on election night, Ikeda shared her joy with her supporters, who waited to hear the results.

“With my views as a woman who had never been represented here, I will make my best efforts to create a society where residents can feel cared about and have a sense of warmth,” Ikeda told them.

Ikeda who had worked at a tax accounting office, won 696 votes of the 9,458 cast to finish third in the 17-candidate field for 14 seats. The first- and second-place finishers tallied 725 and 710 votes, respectively. The city has about 15,000 residents.

In her election campaign, Ikeda promised to carry out fiscal reform drawing on her work experience.

According to a survey conducted by a group of city assemblywomen in Kagoshima Prefecture, Tarumizu was the only city in Japan where no woman had ever been elected to its assembly.

The election, a part of unified local elections held around the nation, also made history in marking the first time a woman had run for the Tarumizu assembly in 20 years and the first in which two women candidates were in the field.

Four women candidates in the past were unsuccessful in their assembly bids.

The other female candidate in the Tarumizu assembly race on April 21 was Rieko Takahashi, 53, who serves on the board of the city’s chamber of commerce and industry.

Takahashi campaigned on a promise to listen to voters about their child-rearing concerns.

“Although the female population of our city is 1,000 more than that of the men, the voices of women have not reached the assembly,” she said on the streets during her campaign.

The Kagoshima Prefecture assemblywomen’s group also supported Takahashi. But she tallied only 355 votes, finishing 15th.

(This article was written by Tomoya Nozaki and Daisuke Ono.)