After 75 years down that long road to equality, the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) appointed, Tomoko Namba, founder of DeNa, a mobile social network and mobile game company, its first female Vice Chair. For anyone who’s been watching, it isn’t their first attempt towards gender equality. No doubt Shinzō Abe’s economic stimulus plan in 2012 was focused on women joining, or returning to the workforce. And staying. Did it work? According to OECD for the past decade, the employment rate of highly educated women has increased to 82%. Late last year, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced “We will form a policy which reflects women’s voices and aim for a society without gender bias for people in leadership positions.”
Japan’s progress toward gender equality actually started much earlier. As I researched this topic with Mayuko Horimoto, we uncovered stories of progress and setbacks. In our chapter, The Role of Women in the Japanese Cultural Context, we recommended a multi-perspective review of factors which can both help and hinder women and suggested strategies, and practices to advance women into leadership.
I’d also recommend going back in history, examining those hidden stories which illuminate and contextualize the human experience. You may also find that studies in Japan have overlooked all the positive aspects women had on human rights and equality movements. The resilience of women in the Meiji Period had a significant impact on all Japanese women. As they paved the way for equality in educational opportunities. Today, according to Catalyst, 64% of Japanese women have attained tertiary education.
Some of those women leaders’ stories stood out.
Three activists in the late 1880’s with a propensity for action had argued for a fundamental shift in attitude to women, both socially and professionally. They were Kishida Toshiko, who saw the exclusion of women in nation building was not only irrational but unethical. Fukuda Hideko questioned the lack of public education and established women’s technological school for women from six to sixty. Hatoyama Haruko focused on higher education in Japan, not only encouraging education but supporting role revision in the family structure. All idealists with a belief in social reform.
The Meiji Period was filled with debate, fraught with contradictions, but ultimately remained mired in old patterns and some unexplained policies. In 1872, which banned women from cutting their hair later became an important issue for women’s empowerment. The Meiji Period produced social changes which raised attention of greater education for women. And over a century later, Abenomics advocated to increase female employment, a core part of his economic revitalization.
We’ll see what’s next for Japan’s ongoing attempts at [gender] workforce diversity and how Prime Minister Suga’s straightforward rationale to fully leverage all of society’s human capital plays out.
Japanese Women in Leadership Editors: Nakamura, Yoshie Tomozumi, Horimoto, Mayuko, McLean, Gary N. (Eds.)
This edited book highlights the unique cultural and socioeconomic elements of Japan and the strong influence of those elements on women leaders in the nation. It shows that gender inequality and under-utilization of female talent are deeply rooted in Japanese society, explaining why Japan lags behind other countries in Asia in this regard. The contributors are expert academicians and practitioners with a clear understanding of Japanese women leaders’ aspirations and frustrations. This book has critical implications for the development of women leaders in Japan, providing intriguing insights into developing the potential of highly qualified women leaders in diverse Japanese contexts in which traditional cultural expectations and modernized values coexist.
