TOKYO // Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe named five female cabinet ministers on Wednesday, leading by example in a country which economists say must make better use of its highly-educated but underemployed women.
The five make up more than a quarter of the 18-strong cabinet and come close to matching his declared aim for the percentage of women in senior positions.
Mr Abe has repeatedly spoken of the need to get more women into the labour market where an ever-shrinking workforce must provide for a growing number of retirees.
He has said he wants 30 per cent of senior business and political positions occupied by women by 2020.
“We have to revise ideas of seeing everything from men’s viewpoint,” Mr Abe said earlier this year.
“The most underused resource we have is the power of women,” he said. “Japan must be a place where women are given the chance to shine.”
Government figures show only 11 per cent of managerial jobs are occupied by women, compared with 43 per cent in the United States and 39 per cent in France.
The female appointments – up from two in the last cabinet – marked a shift in emphasis for a body usually dominated by older men, where women frequently appear to be little more than a cosmetic afterthought.
One of those who won a ministerial portfolio was Yuko Obuchi, 40, the daughter of former premier Keizo Obuchi. She became the first woman to assume the powerful post of economy, trade and industry minister.
She has made the grade once before, at the age of 34, and holds the record for being the youngest female cabinet minister Japan has had.
Among other female politicians getting the nod were Midori Matsushima, 58, as justice minister, and Haruko Arimura, 43, as minister in charge of women’s activities.
“Abe is trying to give an example of his commitment to the better use of women by appointing five of them,” said Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo.
Appointing women was also expected to lead to a rise in support for him among female voters, Mr Nishikawa said.
* Agence France-Presse
