Prime Minister Fumio Kishida risks reinforcing the view that the country is not serious about addressing gender inequality if women are shut out of the new leadership set to take the helm of the Bank of Japan this spring.
Janet Yellen and Christine Lagarde have demonstrated that being female is no longer an insurmountable barrier to landing the top job at the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Yet not a single woman’s name is doing the rounds as a potential replacement for Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor in the world’s third-largest economy.
At best, one of the two deputy governor positions may be filled by a woman for the first time, based on surveyed economists’ expectations. Kishida has said he will make his choices known in February.