InsideJapan News Network

Women are to be allowed to serve aboard Japanese destroyers from next year, it has been announced.

The defence ministry said it would lift a 1954 restriction that prohibited female members of the Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) from serving on the vessels, reported Japan Today.

Around 2,000 women serve in the MSDF which in total numbers around 45,000 personnel, military officials said.

It is hoped that the decision, which will affect anti-submarine helicopters and minesweeper tenders, will go some way to meet a chronic shortfall in staff faced by most sectors of the country's military.

The ministry also said it aims to have a number of women working aboard the new destroyer Hyuga.

Monocle reported that despite being denied a navy, army or airforce in its post-war constitution, Japan currently has one of the biggest and most sophisticated maritime fleets, including nine frigates and 47 destroyers.