Bank of Japan appoints first female executive director in 138 years

In the the last 138 years, Japan’s central bank just now appointed its first female executive director.

Tokiko Shimizu, 55, was appointed as one of the six executives that look after the bank’s daily basic operations. The Bank of Japan recently witnessed a sweeping reshuffle.

Shimuzu had started working at the bank in 1987. She was the general manager for Europe and the chief representative in London during 2016-18.

The Bank of Japan was established in October 1882.

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Even though women constitute over 47 per cent of people on the central bank’s payroll.

However, only 13 per cent of senior managerial posts are held by women, while only 20 per cent of expert positions in terms of law, payment, and bank notes. This numbers are taken from the bank’s own database.

Until now, women have found representation on its policy board. However only one out of the nine members is a woman. Additionally, the bank has never had a female governor, unlike the Federal Reserve of the European Central Bank.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had earlier pledged to empower women through a policy called “womenomics”.

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Japan’s management structures have largely remained male-dominated. That has started changing over the last decade, which was witnessed a surge in number of female participants in higher educational institutions.

World Bank’s 2018 data suggests that women account for over 51 per cent population of Japan. In terms of global gender gap, the country ranks 121 out of 153 on the World Economic Forum’s index.

Among the G7 nations, the country ranks at the bottom in terms of gender equality, WEF data suggests.