International Desk: Despite long efforts to appoint women to top positions in business and industry in Japan, significant progress has not been seen. A recently released survey found that only 13 women are serving as chief executive officers (CEOs) among the top companies in the country.
Only 0.8 percent of the 1,643 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market have women as CEOs. This information emerged in the survey conducted based on the financial statements of Kyodo News Agency for the fiscal year 2023. News from The Guardian.
The report also indicates a slowdown in diversification in Japan’s corporate decision-making, according to Kyodo News. These figures are evidence of the challenges facing the government in meeting its target of appointing 30 percent women to top executive positions by 2030.
Although the number of women executives has increased in some areas, the presence of women in top business and politics is still relatively low. According to a 2022 OECD survey, only 15.5 percent of executive positions in Japan are held by women. Whereas in the UK this number is 40.9 percent and in France 45.2 percent. China and South Korea have fewer female executives than Japan.
However, few women have been appointed to important positions in recent years. Yet career advancement for women in Japan is slow. In January 2024, Mitsuko Tottori was appointed as the first female president of Japan Airlines. In 2021, Tomoko Yoshino Rengo took office as the first female president of Japan’s largest trade union organization.
Meanwhile, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi is among the top 3 candidates in the LDP leadership race in a new opinion poll. In this, the possibility of Japan’s first female prime minister is also peeking in front of the people of the country. However, Takaichi’s conservative views, particularly his opposition to same-sex marriage and separate names for married couples, have made him less popular among members of the Liberal Democratic Party.
