147 / 156: 3rd World Japan...

One hundred and forty-seven out of 156 countries. That's where Japan stands in terms of women's political empowerment. The dismal ranking immediately prompted lawmakers across party lines to call for numerical targets to boost female representation in politics.

Japan came in 147th in women's political empowerment -- nine spots behind 138th Saudi Arabia -- in the World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap report, which was published Tuesday. Japan was 120th in the overall rankings, far behind any other Group of Seven country.