Japan’s ongoing push to elevate more women into senior business and industry roles has encountered a setback, with a recent survey revealing that only 13 female CEOs are leading the country’s top firms. According to the Kyodo news agency, women occupy just 0.8% of the CEO positions among the 1,643 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market, as indicated by financial reports from the fiscal year 2023.
Kyodo’s analysis highlights Japan’s sluggish progress in promoting gender diversity within corporate leadership, reflecting the broader challenge the government faces in achieving its goal of having women in at least 30% of executive roles by the decade’s end.
Even under Japan’s more inclusive definition of “executive,” which encompasses corporate officers, directors, auditors, and executive officers, the representation of women remains notably low. This lack of progress comes nearly a decade after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged before the UN to “create a society where all women shine.” Despite this, Japan still lags in international gender equality rankings in both politics and business.
A 2022 OECD study found that women held just 15.5% of executive roles in Japan, compared to 40.9% in the UK and 45.2% in France. Only China and South Korea ranked lower. Similarly, a report from The Economist placed Japan 27th out of 29 advanced economies in its “glass-ceiling index,” underscoring the slow pace of change.
Still, there have been some breakthroughs. The Kyodo survey noted that the number of female board members has surpassed 3,000—double what it was five years ago. Prominent appointments include Mitsuko Tottori, who became Japan Airlines’ first female president in January, and Naomi Unemoto, appointed the nation’s first female prosecutor-general in July. In 2021, Tomoko Yoshino made history as the first woman to lead Rengo, Japan’s largest labor union.
| GDP (nominal) | Capital | Head of State | Head of Government | GDP (nominal) per capita | GDP (PPP) | GDP (PPP) | GDP (PPP) per capita |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | Tokyo | HM Naruhito | Fumio Kishida | 4.230.862 | 33.950 | 6.710.000 | 52.120 |
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