They were supposed to breathe fresh air into the conservative and male-dominated world of Japanese politics; an influx of women ministers that would fulfil a promise of empowerment made by Shinzo Abe.
However, the move by the prime minister is backfiring, as some of his newly appointed women are revealed to be ultra-conservative anti-feminists. Two have been forced to issue embarrassing clarifications after their smiling faces appeared on a neo-Nazi website alongside a man who denies that the Holocaust happened, and who refers to Barack Obama as a “n***er”.
Others have a record of support for decidedly conservative social positions, one of whom, Haruko Arimura, is the new minister in charge of women’s empowerment.
Mr Abe has referred to women as Japan’s “most under-used resource”