Japanese PM Ishiba’s BoJ pick would put two women on board for first time

The Bank of Japan in Tokyo.

The Bank of Japan is likely to have two women on its decision-making board for the first time, marking a modest step toward improving gender diversity at the central bank as it struggles to catch up with global peers.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government nominated female economist Junko Koeda to replace Seiji Adachi on the BOJ policy board, according to a statement distributed by a parliamentary committee Tuesday. If the Waseda University professor is officially appointed, she will join Junko Nakagawa as the second woman on the nine-member board.

Parliament is expected to approve her nomination subject to debates in the diet, before Adachi’s term expires on March 25.

The addition of Koeda to the group of top decision makers at the BOJ highlights a small but significant shift in Japan’s male-dominated central banking world. As with many other branches of power in Japanese society, gender balance at the BOJ has historically lagged other developed economies, but the pick of Koeda may signify the Ishiba minority government’s efforts to placate opposition parties more than a serious push to address inequality.

“There has been criticism of the low proportion of women in the Ishiba cabinet,” said Yasunari Ueno, Chief Market Economist at Mizuho Securities. “Appointing a second woman to the BOJ’s board may be seen as a positive signal for promoting female talent by overseas observers.”

Earlier this week, Makoto Hamaguchi, the policy chief of a minor opposition party that’s held the key to passing big-ticket items through parliament told Bloomberg that he would be checking to see if the new BOJ board nominee was chosen with gender balance in mind.

Despite some progress in adding women to senior positions, Japan will likely have some way to go before selecting a woman to lead the BOJ. Ranked by gender balance, the BOJ came in at 156th out of 185 central banks in 2024, according to a report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum.

The central bank has never had a female governor or deputy governor, unlike the European Central Bank, which is currently led by President Christine Lagarde, or the Federal Reserve Bank, which was helmed by Janet Yellen until 2018. Japan has also never had a female prime minister or finance minister, and consistently ranks low in global rankings of gender equality.

The central bank also took a step backwards in gender equality progress last year when it named a man to succeed Tokiko Shimizu, meaning all six executive director positions were once again filled by men.

Last year the BOJ set a target to increase the percentage of women with more senior responsibilities to 20% by June 2026, up from the current 17.8%. The bank also aims to ensure that 12% of managers are female in the same time frame.