So much for "womenomics"?
Tuesday's reshuffle of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet reduced the number of female ministers to just one — the lowest number since the prime minister retook office in December 2012.
Not that there were many women in his previous Cabinet, which had just two. But in a nation where female participation in politics remains doggedly low, the number of portfolios held by women is always a topic subject to heavy scrutiny — especially because Abe himself has declared boosting the profile of professional women to be one of his top policy priorities.