Photo/Illutration The Cabinet Office building (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Although more female civil servants occupy senior positions in major Japanese cities, around 60 percent of them are assigned to the three divisions of welfare, civic services or children and education, a survey showed.

The percentage dips into the single digits for top posts in the departments and bureaus in charge of determining overall planning of the municipal governments.

The Asahi Shimbun survey is based on personnel data from the 20 designated municipalities with near-prefecture-level authority as of April 1, 2024.

Osaka city did not respond to the survey, saying it “cannot disclose any personally identifiable information on our staff’s positions and gender.”

According to Cabinet Office statistics, 2,986 individuals serve as managers or directors of departments, bureaus and other equivalent units at the 20 designated cities.

Of this figure, 445, or 14.9 percent, are women, marking a steady increase from 8.2 percent in 2015, when the law to promote women’s active commitment to professional careers was enacted.

The Asahi survey analyzed details on 2,893 department and bureau chiefs from 19 municipalities.

Among all female chiefs, 25.1 percent were in welfare sections, 21.1 percent were in civic services, and 12.2 percent were in children and education departments. The corresponding ratios among men were 10.7 percent, 14.9 percent and 8.2 percent.

Overall, 58.4 percent of the female chiefs were in these three sections, 1.7 times higher than the 33.8 percent for men.

In waterworks, firefighting and similar bureaus and departments, 14.8 percent of the female chiefs occupied top posts, compared with 21.2 percent for men.

Only 6.3 percent of the women held leadership posts for managing infrastructure and environmental facilities, such as roads and parks, while 19.2 percent of the male chiefs were heads of these sections.

Moreover, only 9.1 percent of the female chiefs worked at secretary divisions, including finance, human resources and planning, compared with 13.4 percent of their male counterparts.

These sections are in charge of determining the overall course of action of municipal governments.

As for secretary divisions, an Asahi Shimbun interview survey with the 20 cities found that, over the past 20 years, only six women have held chief posts at key sections that work out the cities’ future plans or serve as coordinators for relevant activities.

One of them is the current head of Osaka’s policy planning unit.

Another is a woman from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism who has become head of Okayama city’s policy bureau.

Two of the six women were dispatched from ministries and agencies, meaning only four--one from Osaka, one from Sapporo and two from Kita-Kyushu--have climbed the ladder within the municipal governments to reach their positions.

Overall, 70.1 percent of the male chiefs worked at the cities’ main offices, compared with 57.6 percent of the women.

Among the 147 ward leaders from the 19 responding cities, 33, or 22.4 percent, were women.

Although this position is considered one of the highest municipal branch posts, Naoko Sato, a Kawasaki city official, said, “Ward heads are considered virtually honorary positions for women in a lot of the municipalities.”

Sato has gained attention for her book on the realities facing female civil-service workers, part of her personal research on women in managerial posts.

“Although welfare and other sections with more female managers play significant roles directly linked to citizens’ lives, they are all peripheral units far from the central authority of the city mayors,” Sato said. “This disproportionate gender arrangement might make it difficult for women to reflect their opinions and views in the municipal government’s decision-making and administrative processes.”

(This article was written by Senior Staff Writer Tomoko Yamashita, Kenichiro Shino and Misato Nakayama.)

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