Women Make Up Record 35.7 Pct of Japan Govt Worker Exam Passers

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)–Women accounted for a record 35.7 pct of those who passed Japan’s career-track national public servant examination for the spring of fiscal 2026, the National Personnel Authority said Friday. A total of 2,021 applicants passed the exam to hire people who would become candidates for executives of central government agencies and ministries, up from 1,793 from a year before, and 722 of them were women. The share of successful female applicants hit a record high for the second straight year for the spring test. By educational institution, the number of passers from the University of Tokyo remained the largest, at 291, followed by Kyoto University, at 132, Waseda University, at 115, and Hokkaido University, at 73. By exam category, 213 people passed a test assessing practical skills, such as policy planning and presentation abilities, without having to take a specialized knowledge exam. The exam category, previously offered only in the autumn recruitment, was introduced in the spring hiring process as well from fiscal 2026. Applicants for the category in the fiscal 2026 spring recruitment process were required to be at least 19 years old as of April 1, and 25 of those who passed were 19. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]