Japan PM candidate vows 'Nordic' gender balance

The only woman in the leadership race for Japan’s ruling party vowed Monday to improve the gender balance in her cabinet to “Nordic” levels and to ensure “peaceful” coexistence with foreigners.

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Sanae Takaichi would be Japan’s first woman prime minister if she wins the October 4 contest to head the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and then secures enough support in parliament.

Setting out her stall after filing her candidacy along with four others, Takaichi -- seen otherwise as an arch-conservative ~ said people would be “very surprised” by her appointments.

“Our cabinet and (LDP) executive committee will include women to the extent that they will be comparable to those of Nordic countries,” the 64-year-old said.

In Japanese politics and boardrooms, women are rare. Japan ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report.

In the Nordic region, Iceland, Finland and Norway ‘occupied the top three places.

In the 20-strong current cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his resignation on September 7, there are just two women.