Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike pledged on Thursday to field as many women as possible in the metropolitan assembly election in July, saying women are woefully underrepresented in the Japanese political arena.

"It's a shame ... Female participation in politics is very small," Koike told the crowd at the 2017 Global Summit of Women in Tokyo, where about 1,300 leaders from over 60 countries were discussing ways to improve their economic status.

"So, I'm preparing to pick many women candidates to field in the Tokyo assembly election — as much as possible," Koike said in English.

Women hold 25 of the 127 seats in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.

Koike, the first woman to lead the capital, said that to increase the ratio of women in politics, people who make personnel decisions must have the vision and determination to use their talents.

"That is crucial for creating a new society," she said.

Japan is notorious for its large and persistent gender gap.

Despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to promote women's participation in the workforce, gender inequality is still a problem.

In the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, Japan was ranked 111th out of 144 countries, dropping 10 places from 101 the previous year.

The government aims to have 30 percent of management positions in every sector occupied by women by 2020, but the current figure is far short of the goal.

According to credit research agency Teikoku Databank, women accounted for only 6.6 percent of managers among 10,285 firms surveyed last July.

In Nagatacho, Tokyo's political hub, women constitute about 13 percent of the Diet. In the latest bid to improve the gender imbalance for lawmakers, a nonpartisan group drew up a bill urging parties to match the number of female and male candidates fielded in local and national elections. The bill has yet to be submitted to the Diet.

At the opening ceremony, Abe vowed to continue making efforts to advance economic opportunities for women in Japan.

"Our 'womenomics' has just started. I am convinced it will move forward with considerable speed from now on."

The conference ends on Saturday night. At the three-day summit, lawmakers and business execs are expected to discuss strategies to strengthen female participation in society. The summit, founded by Washington-based nonprofit organization Globe Women, has been held annually around the world since 1990.

This was Japan's first time hosting the summit.