The new cabinet of Japan taking photo in Japanese Palace, September 16.
Japan's new government boasts a record number of women, including two cabinet ministers, slightly shifting the gender balance in a country with historically low female representation in politics.
日本新一届政府迎来了史上数量最多的女性成员，其中包括两名内阁大臣。这一改变可稍微平衡一下日本政界的性别比例，日本历史上很少有女性参政。
The election victory of the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) altered the demographic map of the lower house, with 54 women winning seats in the 480-member chamber, up from 43 after the last election.
日本左倾政党民主党赢得大选胜利改变了日本众议院的男女比例。在众议院的480名议员中，女性议员从上届选举后的43名增至目前的54名。
One of them, Keiko Chiba, 61, is the new justice minister, who opposes the death penalty and wants to encourage national debate on ending capital punishment.
其中一名女议员，61岁的千叶惠子为日本新任法务大臣，她反对死刑，并希望在取消极刑的问题上鼓励进行全国范围的讨论。
The other female minister, with the portfolio of consumer affairs, population and gender equality, is Mizuho Fukushima, 53, a former human rights lawyer and leader of junior coalition partner the Social Democratic Party.
另一位女性大臣是负责消费者事务、人口和性别平等的福岛瑞穂。她今年53岁，曾做过人权律师，是执政联盟中的小党社会民主党的领袖。
One of her major tasks will be to encourage family-friendly policies to boost Japan's low birth rate. The country faces a demographic time bomb, with a fast-greying population set to start shrinking soon.
福岛的主要任务之一将是鼓励“家庭友好”政策，提高日本的出生率。人口问题是日本的一颗“定时炸弹”，人口的迅速老龄化会使其人口很快开始减少。
Other new female faces entered the lower house as part of what the media had dubbed the DPJ's "Princess Corps", so-called female assassins who targeted conservative party veterans in their home districts.
其他进入众议院的女性新成员被媒体戏称为日本民主党的“公主军团”，她们号称“美女刺客”，专门“对付”各自家乡选区的老牌保守党议员。
Dozens of them beat their grey-suited rivals, with many first-termers now called "Ozawa girls" as they came to power under the guidance of DPJ heavyweight and campaign commander Ichiro Ozawa.
她们中有不少人打败了男性对手，很多首次就任的女议员被称为“小泽的姑娘”，因为她们是在民主党重量级人物、竞选总指挥小泽一郎的带领下赢得选举的。
Not all the women who broke the political glass ceiling had an easy start.
但不是所有打破政治“玻璃天花板”的女议员们都有一个顺利的开始。
Gossip magazines have dug up the past of one female first-termer, Mieko Tanaka, 33, a former travel agency employee who was forced to admit she used to work as a reporter for a sex industry magazine.
近日一些八卦杂志挖出了首次出任议员的33岁的田中美惠子的历史。田中美惠子曾是一家旅行社的雇员，日前她被迫承认自己曾在一家色情行业杂志做过记者。
The new female lawmakers now account for 11.3 percent of members in the Diet's lower house, up from 9.2 before the poll.
这些新上任的女议员占日本议会众议院议员总数的11.3%，较此前的9.2%有所上升。
But Japan still has some way to go. After the August 30 election, the Inter-Parliamentary Union pointed out that Japan had the developed world's lowest level of female representation in politics.
但日本仍需努力。在8月30日的大选后，国际议会联盟指出日本女性参政的比例为发达国家最低。
