Just 13 female CEOs lead Japan’s top-listed companies, survey finds
Japan continues to lag in female leadership, with just 13 women serving as chief executive officers (CEOs) across over 1,600 top-listed companies.
A recent survey conducted by Tokyo-based Kyodo News reveals that only 0.8% of the 1,643 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market have women at the helm. This statistic highlights the slow pace of progress in gender equality at the executive level in one of the world’s largest economies.
Despite being home to global corporations like Toyota Motor and Sony Group, Japan has made limited strides in appointing female leaders to top positions.
Ryusuke Ishii, a manager at the Japan Research Institute, points to the tendency of companies to hire executives from outside their organisations rather than promoting from within as one reason for the “lack of progress.”
However, there are signs of improvement. The number of female board members in Japan has doubled since fiscal 2019, now exceeding 3,000. This growth underscores efforts by Japanese companies to elevate more women into influential roles, although CEO appointments remain scarce.
Japan's push for greater female leadership gained momentum in 2013 when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasised the importance of empowering women as a driving force for the country’s economic growth. During a speech at the United Nations, Abe vowed that the Japanese government “will cultivate the power of women as the greatest potential for the growth of the Japanese economy.” He added that "a society in which women shine" would invigorate the nation.
Now, the Japanese government faces an uphill challenge of reaching its target of having women in at least 30% of executive positions by 2030.
