On July 19, Japan celebrates the unofficial holiday — Women Ministers Day.
«Woman in politics», «woman in government» — phrases that in modern society are perceived naturally and, in most cases, positively, like the very phenomenon of a female leader.
World history and modern times know many excellent names of women politicians, women ministers, and women presidents. In some countries, women have been elected to leadership positions for decades, and in some — women who govern the country on an equal basis with men is still a fairly new phenomenon.
Japan is one of those countries in which the emergence of women in government in 1960 became a historically unconventional phenomenon.
On July 19, 1960, Nakayama Masa (1891-1976) became the first woman in Japan to receive the post of minister. She was assigned to head the Ministry of Health. Since then, July 19 has been unofficially considered Women Ministers' Day in Japan.
Nakayama Masa, who bore the surname Iida-Powers before her marriage, was born in southern Japan, in the city of Nagasaki. Her father was an American businessman and her mother — was Japanese. Masa graduated from the famous Cassui School, founded by American missionary Methodists, and then studied at one of the oldest universities in the United States, Ohio Wesleyan University. Masa Nakayama continued her career in education, and in 1947 she was elected to Parliament from Osaka Prefecture. In 1960, she became the first female minister in Prime Minister H's cabinet. Ikeda.
It should be noted that the post-war years, and especially the second half of the 50s and 60s of the last century, were marked in Japan by unprecedented economic development, which received the definition of the «Japanese miracle» in the world. In 1964, Tokyo became the first city in Asia to host the Olympics. Thus, Japan, which restored its economy after World War II, took part in the Olympic Games and declared economic competitiveness and a return to the international arena. The period was also favorable for women seeking to advance in the professional field.
More than half a century has passed since that distant 1960; since then, the names of women have begun to be heard more and more often in the political arena of Japan. In the cabinet headed by Prime Minister D. Koizumi in 2001-2006, there were 8 female ministers — the highest figure ever. The average number of women in government is 2-4 people.