Tracy Gopal

Japan’s 2026 AGM season didn’t just signal progress—it revealed a structural, quantifiable increase in demand for female board directors that will continue to reshape Japanese corporate governance and board composition through the rest of the decade. The data points to a growing need for qualified and skilled female directors. The Leaders: 20% of Prime Companies Have Reached 30% Approximately 20% of Prime Market companies now have boards with at least 30% female directors. This is a...

Japan’s 2026 AGM season marked a quiet but unmistakable shift in how leadership, talent, and board composition are understood in Japanese corporate governance. For years, discussions about women on boards in Japan focused almost exclusively on numerical targets — how many women a company had, whether it was moving toward the 30% benchmark, and how Japan compared with global peers. A decade ago, the appointment of a single prominent woman to a board was considered a milestone. Today, Mercari...

At the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) conference, industry leaders gathered to discuss the state of corporate governance.