Tokyo:
Japan has 19,856 female police officers , accounting for 7.7 per cent of the police force, authorities said today.
According to National Police Agency, as of April 1, 1,137 women police were recruited last year.
Among them, 295 women hold senior positions, almost doubling from five years ago, according to the NPA.
The agency plans to increase the number of female police officers and those in senior positions, with the aim of raising the ratio to around 10 per cent by April 2023.
In fiscal 2013 through March, 1,565 female police officers were newly employed nationwide, up 69 from the previous fiscal year and accounting for 14.3 per cent of the total police intake.