海角大神

Japan's main opposition party elected聽Renho Murata as its head on Thursday, marking the third woman to assume a top political position there in recent weeks.聽

The election of Ms. Murata follows the election of聽Yuriko Koike as governor of Tokyo聽on July 31 and the appointment of Defense Minister聽Tomomi Inada later that week. But while gender equality advocates have celebrated the changing face of Japanese leadership, men still largely dominate the country's political world.聽

"As the first woman leader, I would like to break the glass ceiling and create a new generation of the Democratic Party by assembling everyone's power," wrote Murata on her聽website聽prior to being elected.聽

While noting the shift at the top of the political ranks, Japan lags most nations when it comes to gender equity in politics.

Japan is currently ranked聽155th out of 193 countries聽for women's representation in national legislatures, with women accounting for only聽9.5 percent of the makeup of the Lower House, according to the聽Inter-Parliamentary Union. Since 1946, when women were first permitted to run in national elections, the number of female representatives in Japan's National Diet has remained relatively stagnant.聽

"It is a shame. I didn't expect that growth would be so slow," said聽Tenkoko Sonoda, one of the original female members of the National Diet, in an interview with the Japan Times days before her death last January.聽"I was聽certain that the time would come聽when women would flourish."聽

The trifecta of appointments comes in the midst of聽Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "womenomics" push to encourage more women to work. But progress in this field has been slow, as the 海角大神 Science Monitor's Gavin Blair reported in December:

The election of women like Murata into leadership positions is long overdue,聽Mayumi Taniguchi, a law professor and the founder and chairwoman of women's adovcacy group聽All Japan Obachan Party, told The New York Times.聽

"Given that it's already 70 years since the Constitution was established, where gender equality is advocated, I have to say it is too late," Ms. Taniguchi said. "I'm tired of being happy about 'the first woman something' forever. But I still welcome it if it will bring momentum for a new women's era."