Donning badges for the first time in more than 20 years has given a new sense of duty to three female officers in the Shiga Prefectural Police who were effectively forced out when they had kids.
"We are ready to outdo the rookies," Toshiko Fuse, 52, Masako Kawada, 48, and Mami Uchida, 48, said in a statement after being reinstated at police headquarters earlier this month.
"Working as a police officer has been the joy of our lives," they added. The three officers kicked off their careers at a time when policewomen were rare.