Takaichi's personnel policy limits the appointment of women, going against the ``Nordic-level'' policy

In the recent cabinet reshuffle and appointment of LDP executives, the appointment of women was limited, the number of three political office positions was reduced by two, and all four party positions were held by men. Before taking office, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (party president) had set out a policy to increase the number to ``on par with Northern Europe,'' but this is a reversal of that plan. We are far removed from the government's gender equality goals.

Takaichi's style of personnel affairs, sad and joyful thoughts: Request for position: ``If you write it down seriously.''

The only female cabinet members are Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and Economic and Security Affairs Minister Kimi Onoda, as they were before the reshuffle. Even including the Prime Minister, this is about 16% of the total. The number of vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries has increased from eight to six. In the Liberal Democratic Party, Haruko Arimura was removed from the position of chairman of the general affairs committee, and only two of the 14 members of the new executive committee are women: the prime minister and Takako Suzuki, head of the public relations headquarters.

During last year's presidential election, the prime minister said he would create a ``cabinet and party board with as many women as the Nordic countries.'' However, the current situation is far from that of the Nordic countries, where about half of the cabinet members are women.

According to the 2026 Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Japan ranks 121st out of 145 countries in the political field. The figure continues to be sluggish because it reflects the number of years in office at the top of the executive branch over the past 50 years and the gender ratio of Diet members and cabinet ministers.

Last fall, expectations for significant improvement rose with the appointment of the first female prime minister. However, in reality, the Prime Minister has publicly stated that he emphasizes ``equal opportunity'' and has negative views on ``women's quotas.'' Regarding this appointment, a senior government official said, ``It's a merit-based system. Gender is not taken into consideration.''

On the other hand, the Sixth Basic Plan for Gender Equality, which was formulated by the Takaichi administration this spring, points out that the appointment of women to the decision-making process is ``extremely important from the perspective of ensuring substantive equality of opportunity between men and women.'' The government maintained its goal of raising the proportion of women in leadership positions to around 30% "as early as possible in the 2020s."