Tomoko Tamura became the first woman to serve as chair of the Communist Party of Japan, replacing Shii, who had served as chair for more than 20 years.
As the number of party members continues to decline, the challenge is whether the party can recover its strength by increasing its number of seats in the next House of Representatives election.
At the Communist Party's convention, which concluded on the 18th, Tomoko Tamura, who had been the policy committee chair, became the first woman to serve as the committee chair, replacing Shii, who had served as the committee chair for over 23 years.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shii assumed the position of chairman, which had been vacant since 2006.
Taku Yamazoe Member of the House of Councilors
In addition, Secretary-General Koike will continue in his role, and 39-year-old Taku Yamazoe, a member of the House of Councilors, has been appointed as the new policy committee chair.
New Chairman Tamura said, ``My experience level is different from Mr. Shii, so I would like to work hard as a team while consulting with Mr. Shii.''
The Communist Party appears to be aiming to promote the appointment of women and promote generational change, revamping the party's image and expanding its support.
However, the number of members of the Communist Party has halved from its peak of around 500,000 in 1990 to around 250,000, and there are concerns that the party is aging, and its seats in national elections are decreasing.
The challenge for the future is whether under the new Chairman Tamura, the party will be able to recover its strength by working together with the opposition parties and increasing the number of seats in the next House of Representatives election.