During the ‘Women in Japan: Current Roles and Expectations’ webinar organized by KAS Japan on 3 December 2021, the speakers discussed the current situation of women in Japan, including their double burden of having to work both outside and inside the home, as well as the fact that the support measures for women to balance work and housework/childcare had driven them to the ‘Mommy Track’ as a result. The experts shared voices from working mothers saying that they want ‘satisfaction (fair evaluation)’ rather than ‘kindness (support)’.

Twenty-three years have passed since the word ‘Womenomics’, a term that combined the word ‘women’ and ‘economics’, was proposed in 1999. The meaning behind the term was the idea that not only the organisation but also Japan can boost its economy by getting more women into the workforce. And ten years have passed since ‘Womenomics’ was advocated as one of the policies of ‘Abenomics’ during the second Abe- Administration in December 2012. However, the percentage of female managers is in the 10% plus range which is a significantly low value in the world. This symbolises the problems facing Japanese women in business.

At the last webinar, positive changes as the impact of COVID-19 were pointed out, such as men realising the amount of housework and women returning to full-time work by working from home. But where is the Japanese women’s labour policy heading?

The purpose of this webinar is to understand how other countries elevate women into leadership positions in business fields. We will focus on Germany, a country whose views on gender roles are historically similar to those of Japan, particularly the view on the gender division of labour. However, Germany is more advanced in terms of gender equality than Japan even if it lags behind the EU in comparison. Through Germany’s evolving policies, we can learn pragmatic and realistic next steps for Japan. During the webinar, we intend to discuss possible policy recommendations, which – once formulated – help to foster change to improve the current situation in Japan for future women business leaders.

You can find the website for the webinar here.