The all-male citadel of the Justice Ministry's bureaucracy has been cracked open, and next week it will have its first-ever female divisional head.

Kazumi Okamura, a 45-year-old lawyer who joined the ministry just two years ago, has been named director of the International Affairs Division. The appointment takes effect April 1.

Okamura, who is licensed to practice law in Japan and the United States, is not a run-of-the-mill bureaucrat, who traditionally take up their government posts right out of college.

After passing Japan's tough bar exam and earning her lawyer's license, Okamura in 1987 headed to the U.S., where she enrolled in law school. Three years later, she added a New York lawyer's license to her qualifications.

Okamura then spent 10 years with the U.S. investment firm Morgan Stanley, working in the legal department of its Japanese subsidiary.

In May 2000, she changed career paths and became a prosecutor in the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office.

She was assigned to the criminal division, working mostly on criminal cases referred by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Tapping her experience at Morgan Stanley, her bosses also assigned her to work on financial crimes with their vaunted special investigative squad.

Okamura moved to the Justice Ministry in 2001 as a ranking official in the International Affairs Division, serving as senior planning officer for criminal affairs.

As head of the International Affairs Division, Okamura will be responsible for the extradition of criminals. She will coordinate international criminal investigations and oversee the writing of guidelines for international law enforcement.

While the Justice Ministry is currently headed by a female Cabinet minister, Mayumi Moriyama, Okamura is the first woman to break into the upper echelons of the ministry's bureaucracy.