Japan

New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday named two women ministers to his Cabinet, down from five in the outgoing administration.

Women are poorly represented in politics and business in Japan, and the world's fourth-largest economy has never had a woman prime minister.

Japan ranked 118 among 146 nations in the 2024 World Economic Forum's gender equity rankings, up from 125th but still the lowest among Group of Seven nations.

When Japan’s ruling political party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), votes on Friday for its next leader, it will effectively be choosing the country’s next Prime Minister.

The first woman governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has won a third term – against another woman candidate. The race between multiple women signifies a push for greater female representation in Japanese politics, which is still overwhelmingly dominated by men.

Eight years ago, Yuriko Koike became the first woman to lead Tokyo, beating her male predecessor. She won her third term as governor July 7, and one of her closest rivals was a woman.

TOKYO -- Women account for a mere 18.1% of prospective candidates to be fielded by Japan's six major political parties in the 289 single-seat constituencies in the next House of Representatives election, a Mainichi Shimbun survey has found.

TOKYO -- A study group headed by Mari Miura, a professor at Sophia University's Faculty of Law in Tokyo, with an objective to achieve gender equality in Japan from local levels, has compiled a Japanese gender gap index by prefecture. Using the same method as the global gender gap index, the group collects data on women's participation in local politics, economy, education and administration.

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) chose Tomoko Tamura as its first-ever female leader Thursday, apparently in the hope of broadening its support base and attracting a wider array of voters.