Rush For Female Directors Stumbles on Weak Pipeline in Japan

Japanese companies scrambling to recruit female external directors to meet diversity quotas are hitting a shortage of suitable candidates in a country that has long failed to train women for top corporate roles.

That’s a boon for firms that connect potential board members to companies, but data analyzed by Bloomberg this month shows progress on diversity is slow, while concerns are emerging over the experience level of newly minted directors and the lack of support provided for them.

“There are very few women — probably less than 100 — who actually have experience managing a listed company,” said Kyoko Yokota, ...