Japan has long presented the paradox of being an economically advanced nation with consistently low rankings in gender equality—placing 116th out of 146 countries in the 2022 Global Gender Gap Report. Within the past twenty years, Japan has experienced ten changes in the Prime Minister position. Subsequently, with the leadership changes comes inevitable changes in administering gender equality and women empowerment policies. In comparing the policies surrounding gender equality under Abe Shinzo and Fumio Kishida, fruitful observations can be made regarding the magnitude of the shift away from the patriarchal Japanese society that has been achieved in the last couple of decades.