Makiko Ono

In 2023 when Makiko Ono became CEO of Suntory Beverage and Food, the nonalcoholic drinks and foods unit of Suntory, she became the first woman to lead a Japanese company with a market cap of over 1 trillion yen ($7 billion). Ono’s business reported a record 1.7 trillion yen in revenue for its most recent fiscal year, a 2.7% increase. Female CEOs are still rare in Japan, which lags its peers in Asia, let alone the world, in having women in corporate leadership. Ono hopes to change that: "We are opening the door so that other young female workers can see more ahead," she told Fortune last year.