Photo/Illutration Osaka citizens take part in an event held in conjunction with International Women’s Day on March 8. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Even though Japan has its first female prime minister, it is still too early to expect an assessment saying the gender gap has been corrected.

The course toward a society in which women can work amid the same conditions as men and participate in the decision-making process is still a long one.

In the 2026 version of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, which has now covered 20 years, Japan placed 117th out of the 145 nations surveyed, up one notch from last year.

It was the lowest ranked member of the Group of Seven.

The slow improvement in the political and economic fields was noticeable.

While the report described Sanae Takaichi becoming prime minister as a historic development, out of a possible 100 percent, Japan’s political empowerment assessment was only 10.5 percent, a slight improvement over last year’s 8.5 percent.

In the February Lower House election, the ratio of female candidates elected fell to 14.6 percent from the previous 15.7 percent.

After the recent Cabinet reshuffle, only two of the 18 ministers, excluding Takaichi, were women.

What is important is to expand an environment making it easier for women to participate in politics.

There are many issues that the various parties have to tackle, including promoting political activities for both women and men while they are also engaged in child rearing and caring for the elderly.

In the economic participation and opportunity category, the ratio of women with jobs increased, but the ratio of those in managerial positions decreased and the salary disparity also widened.

That led the economic participation and opportunity score to dip to 60.9 percent from 61.3 percent last year.

According to statistics compiled by the internal affairs ministry, the ratio of women in managerial positions in 2025 was 14.4 percent.

According to Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), the ratio of female executives in companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market was 18.4 percent.

While those figures show improvement, there is still a large gap with the situation in the West where the figures are between 30 and 50 percent.

There is a need to move quickly to establish an environment making it easier for men to take paternity leave as well as to create workplaces that foster men and women equally to move into managerial positions.

The disparity in households is also serious.

According to the internal affairs ministry, among households with children under age 6, the time used for household chores and child rearing was 7 hours, 28 minutes a day for women and 1 hour, 54 minutes for men.

That shows there is no change in the picture of women shouldering the chore burden even though more are entering the workplace.

There has been a spread in Europe of quotas to ensure women lawmakers make up a certain percentage.

In 2022, the European Union made it obligatory for listed companies to have women occupy at least 33 percent of executive positions.

Rather than depend only on the efforts by companies, there is also the possibility of sanctions against companies that violate that provision.

Investors are also taking a stricter view of the gender balance in companies because not only is gender equality a human rights issue, but it is also seen as an issue related to the quality of corporate governance.

While various measures are being taken in Japan, there has only been slow progress in eliminating disparity.

If the situation cannot be improved only through the efforts of political parties and companies, there will be a need to consider more effective measures, including a quota system.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 28

Related News