Wise officials
"Wise officials" (Miranian: 賢官 Kentsukasa; Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐍉𐌳𐍉𐍃 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌱𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍉𐍃 Frōdōs andbahtōs) is a term used in Akashi to refer to a succession of female finance ministers to have occupied the post since 1940. These ministers have been considered among Akashi's greatest finance ministers, and combined acclaimed policies with memorable public images, helping establish the finance minister as second only to the Prime Minister in importance within the cabinet.
Etymology
The term was coined by Ayane Saikawa, Akashi's longest-serving finance minister, during a 1990 speech. Ayane had already praised her successors Naoko Nemoto and Ayako Morisaki in various articles and speeches, and this speech expressed her confidence that the new Communist Party finance minister, Yuri Kida, would turn out just as successful as her predecessors.
In the original speech, Ayane had referred to the "wise women of the treasury", but the simplified form "wise officials" caught on. The Gothic translation Frōdōs andbahtōs uses the feminine plural conjugation, whereas Miranian has no grammatical gender.
Overview
Due to various factors and historical coincidences, Akashi has mainly had women serving as finance ministers since the Akashian Civil War. The precedent initially came out by chance, due to Ayane's long tenure and Naoko's demand of the role as part of coalition negotiations.
By the 1980s, the tradition had become something of an expectation, deliberately invoked by Ran Tsukuda and other governments. The few breaks in the succession have generally been associated with negative periods: male finance ministers were in office during the recession of 1979–1981 and the neoliberal conspiracy of 1990.
Keizai Shinbun summarised the phenomenon as follows: "Every country has some unusual tradition for a lofty position like the finance ministry. Akashi has simply stumbled onto appointing mainly women to head it."
The tradition has been criticised as placing excessive expectations on female officeholders, and pushing them to consider their media image instead of concentrating solely on their ministerial duties.
List
The following are generally considered "wise officials":
- Ayane Saikawa (National Union, finance minister 1940–1970)
- Naoko Nemoto (National Cooperative Party, finance minister 1970–1980)
- Ayako Morisaki (Conservative National Party, finance minister 1982–1989)
- Yuri Kida (Communist Party, finance minister 1990–2000)
- Liana Ferrari (United Reform Party, finance minister 2000–2010)
- Reiko Watanabe (Socialist Party, finance minister 2010–)