Japan navy appoints first female to command a warship unit
The Japanese navy said Tuesday it had for the first time appointed a woman as commander of a unit that includes the country's biggest warship.
Ryoko Azuma, 44, will command four warships making up a division with a total of 1,000 crew members.
"This is the first time a woman was appointed for the job," a spokesman for the Maritime Self-Defence Force told AFP.
"But she wasn't chosen because she was a woman."
The ships include the helicopter carrier Izumo, the navy's biggest ship.
"I want to do my best to carry out the heavy duty I have been given," Azuma told reporters after a ceremony at Yokohama near Tokyo to mark her arrival in the post.
About 400 crew members attended the ceremony.
"I don't think about being a woman but I want to try to become a role model for younger female officers," she said.
About 14,000 women are currently serving in the Self-Defence Forces as the military is known, accounting for only 6% of the entire personnel.
On most levels, Japan lags behind other developed countries in terms of sexual equality.
In politics women are still under-represented with only 47 of the 465 members of the lower house.
According to statistics compiled by the Swiss-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, this ratio of 10.1% places Japan below Myanmar and Gambia. — AFP
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