, Columnist
This Woman Could Revive Japan
To fix its economy, Japan should make use of Seiko Noda and its other 63 million underutilized women.
Prime Minister Noda? Keep hoping.
Photographer: Junko Kimura-Matsumoto/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Anyone wondering why Japan is skirting yet another recession should spend an hour with lawmaker Seiko Noda.
In a nation that chronically underappreciates the talents of women (Japan trails Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh in terms of the number of females in politics), Noda is a trailblazer. In 1989, at 37, she became Japan's youngest post-war cabinet member. Her skill in navigating around the jeers and contempt of male colleagues caught the attention of then-Japanese leader Keizo Obuchi, who famously dubbed Noda "the future candidate for female prime minister."