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Japanese navy appoints first female chief of warship unit

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Tokyo: The Japanese navy said on Tuesday it had for the first time appointed a woman as commander of a unit that includes the country’s biggest warship.


Ryoko Azuma, 44, will command four warships making up a division with a total of 1,000 crew members.


“This is the first time a woman was appointed for the job,” a spokesman for the Maritime Self-Defence Force said. “But she wasn’t chosen because she was a woman.”


The ships include the helicopter carrier Izumo, the navy’s biggest ship.


“I want to do my best to carry out the heavy duty I have been given,” Azuma told reporters after a ceremony at Yokohama near Tokyo to mark her arrival in the post. About 400 crew members attended the ceremony. “I don’t think about being a woman but I want to try to become a role model for younger female officers,” she said.


About 14,000 women are currently serving in the Self-Defence Forces as the military is known, accounting for only six per cent of the entire personnel. — AFP


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