Kishida Names No Women to Senior Vice Minister, Parliamentary Secretary Positions
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Prime Minister Kishida Fumio named a new cabinet on September 13 that included five women, which equals the record number previously seen in cabinets for Koizumi Jun’ichirō in April 2001 and Abe Shinzō in September 2014. However, he did not include a single woman among the 26 senior vice ministers and 28 parliamentary secretaries, in a first since the reorganization of government ministries in 2001.
Japan’s low proportion of women in politics is a major contributor to its poor showing in the World Economic Forum gender gap ranking. In June, the government set a target for companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange prime market to have 30% of executive positions filled by women, noting the importance of creating an environment where women can set their sights on becoming leaders. However, it is failing to set a good example.
Female Ministers (M), Senior Vice Ministers (VM), and Parliamentary Secretaries (PS) by Cabinet
| Cabinet | M | VM | PS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kishida Fumio (September 2023) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Kishida (August 2022) | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Kishida (November 2021) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Kishida (October 2021) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Suga Yoshihide (September 2020) | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Abe Shinzō (September 2019) | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Abe (October 2018) | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Abe (November 2017) | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Abe (August 2017) | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Abe (August 2016) | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Abe (October 2015) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Abe (December 2014) | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Abe (September 2014) | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Abe (December 2012) | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Noda Yoshihiko (October 2012) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Noda (June 2012) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Noda (January 2012) | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Noda (September 2011) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Kan Naoto (January 2011) | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kan (September 2010) | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Kan (June 2010) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Hatoyama Yukio (September 2009) | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Asō Tarō (September 2008) | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Fukuda Yasuo (August 2008) | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Fukuda (September 2007) | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Abe (August 2007) | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Abe (September 2006) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Koizumi Jun’ichirō (October 2005) | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Koizumi (September 2005) | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Koizumi (September 2004) | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Koizumi (November 2003) | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Koizumi (September 2003) | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Koizumi (September 2002) | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Koizumi (April 2001) | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Mori Yoshirō (January 2001) | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Numbers are as of the time the cabinet was named. Yellow highlighting indicates a record high, and blue highlighting is for when there are no women.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Jiji.)