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A Woman Is Speaking for the Bank of Japan for the First Time

In 2014, the BOJ followed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s lead and said it would try to hire women for 30% of career-track positions.

A Woman Is Speaking for the Bank of Japan for the First Time
Mikari Kashima, head of the financial infrastructure studies division at the Bank of Japan (BOJ), poses for a photograph at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Shiho Fukada/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Japan announced the appointment of its first female head of media relations, in one sign that long-closed doors are beginning to open for women at the central bank.

Mikari Kashima, previously head of the Financial Infrastructure Studies Division, was appointed to the position Monday, meaning women now hold the position of chief spokesperson at both the BOJ and the Ministry of Finance.

In 2014, the BOJ followed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s lead and said it would try to hire women for 30% of career-track positions. It said it topped that goal in fiscal 2016, when a third of such new positions went to women, after achieving a similar rate the previous year.

Still, Japan remains far behind in promoting women, who held only 13% of managerial positions in 2017. As of September, 10% of managers at the BOJ were women.

According to the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report, Japan ranks 110th out of 149 countries, with particularly low scores for economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.net;Emi Urabe in Tokyo at eurabe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Henry Hoenig, Paul Jackson

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