These women are sailors in the Japanese navy, training for a sea-borne inspection raid.

They're on the frontline of bringing equality to Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force.

They're crew aboard Japan's biggest warship - a helicopter carrier named the Kaga.

Around 9 percent of the Kaga's crew are female, part of a deliberate effort to raise the number of women in Japan's military where the current avergae is just 6 percent.

Reuters' Tim Kelly gained exclusive access to the Kaga during a recent tour of Southeast Asia.

And he says the ship's very design is helping bring women to the fore.

SOUNDBITE (English) REUTERS JAPAN DEFENCE AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: "There are no roles on this ship that women don't perform, they do aircraft maintenance, they steer the ship, they are in the radio room, they work in the kitchen.

It takes a lot of people to operate a ship, this ship has a crew of 500 people, and about 40-50 of those are women.

So what it means is this ship has been designed specifically to have a mixed crew, to have separate quarters for the women and separate quarters for the men.

And then they work together." Attracting more women to join Japan's maritime self defense force isn't just about equality.

The country's changing demographics along with China's rising influence in Asia have made it a necessity.

Japan has one of the world's biggest navies, with over 100 vessels crewed by 45,000 sailors.