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.