Pressure mounts on Japanese firms for female board inclusion

Amid growing pressure from international investors, Japanese companies are earnestly seeking more female board members. Major institutional investors, including the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, and Norway’s pension fund, have initiated policies to vote against Japanese entities lacking female board representation. CEO of OnBoard KK, Naomi Koshi, who facilitates firms in connecting with potential female board members, stated that some top executives are highly concerned. Despite the Tokyo Stock Exchange and government initiatives to increase female executives, only 3.7% of Prime Market firms have achieved the goal. Koshi emphasises the shareholder’s potential to instigate change. Still, Japanese board representation of women remains lower than that of many international peers.