Browse > Home / Business, Econ Light, Japan / Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori

Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori

October 10, 2007
By Ken Worsley


In a January 2007 interview with the Daily Telegraph, then Chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council (and former METI Minister under Koizumi) Shoichi Nakagawa told the paper:

Women have their proper place: they should be womanly…They have their own abilities and these should be fully exercised, for example in flower arranging, sewing, or cooking. It’s not a matter of good or bad, but we need to accept reality that men and women are genetically different[.]

With all the trouble Japan has, and its stubborn inability to empower women in the workforce and provide them with the sort of employment opportunities that might actually help Japan, this is what the guy in charge of the ruling party’s policy research council had to say. Of course, Abe hired him. The comment went virtually unnoticed in Japan, but the attitude is hardly surprising.

At any rate, Bloomberg’s William Pesek has scratched the surface and put together a must read entitled Japan Needs Fewer Beauty Queens, More Pioneers (I say scratched the surface because this issue needs a 10,000 page book).

The statistics are just staggering:

Japan may be the world’s second-biggest economy, but it ranks 42nd in the world when it comes to women’s participation in political and economic life…In 1985, women in Japan held less than 7 percent of the managerial positions in companies and government, according to the United Nation’s International Labor Organization. By 2005, that had increased to 10 percent, compared with 43 percent in the U.S…Kevin Daly, a London-based economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said that closing the gap between male and female employment would boost Japan’s GDP by 16 percent over time.

It’s almost as though those in power don’t care, and ask those without power, “Whaddya gonna do about it?”

This paragraph got me:

Many career women winced over the last year as a press- anointed role model named Riyo Mori emerged. Her claim to fame was winning the Miss Universe contest. Hey, good for her. Yet the economy would benefit far more from young women striving to be Japan’s answer to Angela Merkel, Wu Yi, Hillary Clinton or Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll.

Mori, however, almost deserves our sympathy because of the treatment she received upon returning to Japan, where she was openly scorned. She wasn’t ‘deferential’ or ‘Japanese’ enough for some guys. She was ‘too western.’ She didn’t ‘walk like a Japanese woman.’ Her body language was described as too western. Of course, if people with those comments thought she cared about what they had to say, they were simply delusional and screaming into the void. She broke the mold, and she’s not the only one doing it. But most of those who do will not live in a void.

There’s so much more to say about fairness, logic, equality and opportunity, but not enough space. If nothing else, at least do it for the GDP.

Filed Under Business, Econ Light, Japan 

Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us:Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori digg:Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori newsvine:Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori furl:Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori reddit:Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori
Related Posts:
Report: Japan lags behind in gender equality in the workplace. Way behind.
William Pesek on Japan in 2007
BizCast Japan #7 Released
Government Urges Workers to be More Productive, Older
Japanese government wants men to have more family time

Comments

6 Responses to “Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori”

  1. Modeling » Pesek on Japanese Women in the Workplace, and Riyo Mori on October 11th, 2007 2:05 am

    […] Batigol wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMany career women winced over the last year as a press- anointed role model named Riyo Mori emerged. Her claim to fame was winning the Miss Universe contest. Hey, good for her. Yet the economy would benefit far more from young women … […]

  2. John S on October 11th, 2007 3:09 am

    Wonder how that comment went unnoticed while the ‘baby machines’ comment caused such a ruckus.

  3. Andrew on October 11th, 2007 10:43 am

    I’ve been enjoying this blog for a while, but this is my first post.

    An Australian friend came to Japan several months ago. We were exchange students in Japan ten years ago together. As we were walking through Shibuya, she asked about the situation regarding the promotion of women to management positions. While there is an urgent need for capable managers, no matter what their sex or nationality, Japan Inc. seems to be confident with the status quo.

    Not only are they comfortable with the status quo, but a system exists to make sure that it stays that way. As long as a Japanese women are busy focusing on reading Cam-Cam, buying bags and cosmetics, and not developing a mindset that would allow them to work their way up in a corporation if the opportunity existed, then how will they be able to develop as managers?

    A Japanese friend works for what I thought was a fairly progressive company; until she told me that she was shown an email from a manager that specifically mentioned her. I believe that she can become a leader in the company, and have be encouraging her to develop her skills so she could take a bigger role. The email, however, specifically mentioned her she will get married, have children, and leave the company - so it was better to take a long term view, thinking three or four years down the road, instead of a year or two for a bigger promotion. Hearing that really angered me, and I suggested that she be more aggressive in stating her case. I don’t think she did, but she’s up for a promotion next year; so I hope it will serve as an arena to grow and develop more skills.

    Getting back to my Australian friend, when she was in high school here many of her classmates at her all-girls school told her that they wanted to be hair or dog stylists. They were shocked that she wanted to be a lawyer. Today she’s fulfilled her goal and is working on continuing her education and broaden her horizons. And her friends? No clue, but I bet you they aren’t managers.

    I think the point is how high you raise the bar; in the United States more women succeed because they grow up expecting, due to media as part of culture, the same rights and positions as men, and many are willing to work for it to achieve their goals. If Japanese culture, operating through the media, plants the seed that women should be nurses, kindergarten teachers, dog stylists, housewives, OLs, etc., and not mangers, lawyers, engineers, etc., then you’re more likely to end up with the former rather than the latter. As long as women in Japan dream of becoming hair stylists or working in department stores, they’re not going to have the drive to become anything more than that.

    Ultimately, as long as sexist attitudes that women belong where they are, progress in the area of women’s rights in society and the workplace will only continue to progress at a glacial pace. With mass retirements and a shrinking workforce already on the horizon, Japanese companies and society should be working more actively on reducing sexist attitude, but as usual, too many are taking the head in the sand approach.

  4. MTC on October 11th, 2007 1:46 pm

    Mr. Worsley:

    For another data point, check out Fortune magazine’s “The 50 Most Powerful Women in Global Business” list.

    The first Japanese on the list is Tempstaff’s Shinohara Yoshiko at #39–which is, to be honest, an act of charity on Fortune’s part.

    The only other Japanese on the list is Kodansha’s Noma Sawako at #45.

  5. Ken Worsley on October 11th, 2007 9:07 pm

    MTC, thanks. There is a stunning amount of data, and, as Andrew’s post suggests, a stunning amount of anecdotal data as well.

  6. Ken Worsley on October 12th, 2007 3:10 pm

    John…I’ve thought about that as well. I don’t think the usual ‘it appeared in the foreign media’ explanation is enough, though there are cases (see former Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe’s speech at the CSIS) when what the speaker has to say almost seems suppressed because it is so unpleasant to the Japanese people.

    I suppose that speeches in Japan, in Japanese are treated as fair game, while speeches overseas or interviews with foreign newspapers are still under the control of the press club system.

Got something to say?