“Empowering women in the professional world is not just a matter of fairness, it's a matter of maximizing talent and potential.”

Although women in Japan have recently made strides in the workplace, they still face many obstacles and difficulties. Japanese culture has always been controlled by men, which has carried over to the workplace.

Depending on the sector and profession, different percentages of women work in Japan's professional sectors. Women made up 42.9% of the labour force in Japan in 2020, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, however, they remain underrepresented in executive roles and several sectors, such as technology and finance. Only 15.9% of people in managerial positions are female. However, there are some sectors, like education, healthcare, and retail, where women are more prevalent.

Despite some slight increases in recent years, the number of women working in Japan's corporations has been growing slowly. According to a poll conducted in 2020 by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, the proportion of women in management roles in businesses with 30 or more workers rose from 12.9% in 2010 to 15.9% in 2020.

A study conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry found that the proportion of women serving on the boards of publicly traded firms climbed from 3.3% in 2019 to 5.5% in 2020. Even though these improvements are encouraging, they still only represent a small part of the women who hold leadership positions in Japan's business sector.

By 2030, Japan promises to have one-third of female executives

Fumio Kishida, Japan's prime minister, wants women to make up around one-third of executive positions in the top companies in the country by the end of the decade.

The following month, before the G7 leaders' conference in Hiroshima, Fumio made what seemed to be an attempt to rectify Japan's appalling track record on gender equality. The third-largest economy in the world, according to him, would benefit from more diversity in the boardroom.

This week, Fumio stated in a meeting with representatives that "we seek to have the ratio of women among executives at 30% or more by 2030 in companies that are listed on the Tokyo stock exchange's prime market." By the way, there is a male minister of state for gender equality. In his 19-member government, there are only two women.

"Securing diversity through promoting women's empowerment, and enabling innovation as a result, is crucial to achieving new capitalism and an inclusive society," Fumio said.

Japan has drawn criticism for having too few women in positions of authority in the public and private sectors. According to a survey by the cabinet office, women still made up only 11.4% of executives in the top listed companies in Japan in 2017 despite recent advances.

As a result of a 2018 regulation mandating parties to "make efforts" to choose an equal number of male and female candidates, parties are attempting to encourage more women to run for office. This represents another example of progress in politics.

Although only about 10% of the seats in the lower house of Parliament are held by women, a record number of female candidates were elected to the upper house last summer. Women have 28% of the seats in the upper house.

Another good development this week was the presence of Shoko Takahashi, a female member of a government commission, and her two-month-old child at a meeting. It is said that Takahashi, the creator of the personal genome firm Genequest, was the first parent to bring their infant to a business event in the prime minister's office.

Arfiya Eri, a woman of Uyghur and Uzbek origin, won a byelection for a seat in the lower house as a candidate for the ruling Liberal Democratic party. Additionally, during the most recent round of municipal elections, a record seven women were elected as mayors in smaller communities.

However, Japan's corporate sector still has ways to go before catching up with comparable economies. It has also struggled to close the gender pay gap; in the World Economic Forum's 2022 Global Gender Gap report, Japan came in at position 116 out of 146.

Few analysts think much will change until more women, who are the backbone of the low-paying, part-time industry, are given permanent jobs and assistance with work and family obligations.

The G7 host country this year, Japan, is under pressure to improve its record on gender equality. Nikkei Asia reported this month that Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, announced it will vote against board nominees at Japanese companies it invests in that do not have any female directors. This decision might have an impact on as many as 300 listed companies.

Nicolas Schmit, the EU commissioner for employment and social rights, recently stated that "20 or 30 years ago" a similar gender disparity existed in Europe.

Fumio could find it difficult to accomplish his aim, according to history. When it came to female executive representation by 2020, the then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi established a similar goal in 2003, but by that time, fewer women than expected had managing positions.