The Cabinet Office has released the results of a 2017 survey on municipal and corporate efforts toward gender equality.

The percentage of women at the department head and deputy director levels in prefectural governments stood at 5.9% (5.5% in 2016) and that of women at the division chief level was 9.8% (9.3% in 2016), both record highs. The government has set goals of achieving “10% at the department head and deputy director levels and 15% at the division chief level” by the end of fiscal 2020. (Abridged)