An estimated 890,000 new recruits began work at companies, public offices and other organizations across Japan on Wednesday as the nation marked the start of the 2015 fiscal year.

Central and local governments, as well as many private-sector companies, held welcome ceremonies for new personnel.

Addressing the new intake at the Cabinet Office, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga noted that 22 of the 54 new recruits — more than 40 percent — were women, in a nod to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "womenomics" policy.