TOKYO — Japan’s first female defense minister has said she will seek the position of prime minister by taking on the “old boys” of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Yuriko Koike, a former ...

Mina Watanabe is co-founder of the Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace (WAM) in Tokyo, which helps to focus attention on Japan’s so-called comfort women and other victims of sexual abuse.

As Japan’s labour force ages and shrinks, women are playing a growing role in it. In 2022 the employment rate for women aged 25-39 surpassed 80% for the first time since records began.

A version of this article appears in print on June 23, 2024, Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: In Japan, 5 Women Sue for Right to Ensure They Won’t Become Mothers.