Japan's land ministry has come under fire for its all-male lineup for lecturers in a planned online course about community development aimed at public servants, with the minister on Friday describing the lack of female representation as "inappropriate."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on its website and also tweeted earlier this week it will begin the course in September, but having no women among the 25 lecturers immediately drew flak from users of Twitter.
"I personally think it was inappropriate to not include women among the lecturers," land minister Tetsuo Saito said at a press conference.
Saito added that "diverse perspectives are important for the promotion of land and transportation administration, including community development." He also said that adding women is being considered.
The ministry has said it had considered having female instructors on its lecturers' lineup but "could not secure" any due to "scheduling reasons."
Twitter went abuzz, with one user saying, "Why isn't there even one woman?" and another complaining that the community building would be male-centric.
The ministry announced Tuesday it was accepting applications for the free-of-charge course that will last until around February, being designed to train employees of the local and central governments in urban development.
The ministry also posted the names and photos of the 25 male lecturers from both the public and private sectors with expertise and relevant experience in areas such as regional economic revitalization.
Following the criticism, the ministry tweeted on Wednesday that it will take the opinions seriously, and a ministry official has said "Women's perspectives are important for community development."
Japan has lagged behind in its gender gap rankings, this year ranking 116th among 146 countries, putting it at the bottom of the East Asia and Pacific group, and the Group of Seven major economies, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.
The report of the Swiss-based think tank showed that women's participation in the political and economic arenas remains particularly low in Japan.
