# Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi named just two other women in her 19-strong cabinet, despite previously promising Nordic levels of representation in her government. They included the country’s first female finance minister, Satsuki Katayama. Takaichi, an admirer of former British premier Margaret Thatcher, was named Japan’s first woman prime minister earlier on Tuesday. In Japanese politics and boardrooms, women are rare. The country ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations Iceland, Finland and Norway occupied the top three places.
Japan’s new female prime minister includes just two other women in 19-member cabinet