Japan Most Difficult Country for Career Women

The Japanese word for wife, “kanai,” is formed from two characters meaning “home” + “inside.” This traditional view starkly contrasts with a modern world where women make up about half the workforce. A belated recognition of the changing role of women in society led to theenactment of Japan’s Equal Opportunity Law in 1986, an event accompanied by a fanfare of press releases about how companies were going to implement the new order. Yet 18 years later, women wishing to pursue a career still find the going hard although Japan is not alone.

A study this April by the U.K.’s Ethical Investment Research Services found that overall, only seven percent of company directors in developed countries are women, while over 46% had no women on their boards. North American companies were among global leaders with women representing about 13% of their boards.(The study covered 24 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, basedon the 1,817 firms listed in the FTSE All World Developed Index.) Pride of place went to Norway, where over 21% of board directors are women. Japan is at the other extreme; only 0.4% of board members are women, easily the lowest score for any major economy. Similar findings came from an earlier study by Corporate Women Directors International that found only 3% of 2,396 listed Japanese companies had even one woman director,the lowest figure of any major economy. Though not alone, Japan is evidently the most difficult developed country for a woman to pursue a career.