Womenomics-Gender Equality in

Japan Part 1
The term “Womenomics” has been around for the last few
years, serving as a catchphrase that is synonymous with
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s agenda to promote
gender equality in the workplace. (As shown by google
rankings). However, the term has been around since the
early noughties and is used to describe how women and
equality are linked to the economy.
Womenomics was brought into the public consciousness
by the popular book of the same name. The authors-
Claire Shipman and Katty Kay say that women “Do not
have to do it all to have it all” and since the publication’s
subsequent success, the term has evolved, becoming
A book of the same name - Womenomics a
New York Times best seller closely associated with politics and gender equality.
“Womenomics” now conjures up images of empowered
women who can obtain a work life balance, make choices and break through the glass ceiling
(or, as I recently learnt named the “bamboo ceiling” in Japan referring to an impenetrable
layer that one cannot even see beyond let alone break through. (At least glass is
transparent)!!
What many people may not be aware of is that the debate about Japanese women and work
place equality is not new. A similar agenda called “The Vision” was introduced in 1997 and
outlined the importance of women in the workplace and the ways in which inequality would
be addressed showing that Womenomics goes back 2 decades, (although the gender equality
debate in Japan dates back to the 19th century) and history repeats itself, albeit and as always
with a different government and a new way of presenting the same issue.
As it currently stands, Womenomics is embedded into Abenomics vision of what Osbourne
from ‘The Times’ referred to as a “3 arrowed assault on the 3D’s - Debt, Demographics and
Deflation”, aka fiscal policy, economic growth/structural reforms and monetary policy. This
3-pronged approach addresses the issue of an ageing population and the future (and current)
effects this has on Japan’s economy.
Japan’s reluctance to accept immigration as a solution
to the problem means that Womenomics slots nicely
into Abe’s vision to reduce debt and address a
decreasing workforce focussing on a domestic as
opposed to an international solution. But rather than
being just a practical approach to an obvious problem,
Womenomics raises an old debate in a new world
about women’s roles in Japanese society.
In a surprisingly similar paradigm, the 1997 LDP led by
Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro focussed on an
agenda called “The Vision” which was developed to
“achieve genuine equality of men and women”.
According to Mari Osawa who wrote a paper entitled.
“Japanese Government approaches to gender equality
in the mid 90’s,” this approach veered towards the
concept of a “gender free society” (Jenda Karano The cover of May 18-24 edition of the Economist
Kaiho).

Prior to the new vision, businesses hiring women were only required to make “due effort” to
accommodate women in the work place, which some felt did not go far enough. The Japanese
perspective on gender equality was also one in which equality took what was considered
“natural” or biological differences between genders into consideration noting that nature
would impact on social roles.
The arguments against this approach arose from
certain “protective” measures (mainly about
protecting motherhood – bosei hogo) which if
implemented honestly, demonstrated a balanced
perspective and understanding about gender
biological differences, as well as economical
requirements for mothers and -could be argued- did
indeed show a respect for womanhood. (Up until the
early 80’s women were even entitled to menstruation
leave in Japan and other Asian countries! Some Asian
countries have recently re-instated this policy in
certain areas). However, many felt that the protective
measures were interpreted in a way that led to
discrimination in a male dominated workplace.
The new approach sought to remove the issue of
An "Oyaji" girl illustration capturing the image of
an ambitious Japanese female. Note the large gender, giving women the same options as men and
briefcase and confident stance- hands on hip, eliminating the need to take ‘natural imperatives’ into
head thrown back-. This epitomised an era
when Japan became open to the idea of women
consideration.
having careers. The Kanji at the top means
‘increasing rapidly’
“The Vision” encouraged a more individual approach to achieving gender equality. This was
radical in a society that functions on the premise of the collective good first and foremost.
As was the case with the passing of the 1986 Equal Opportunities law when traditionalists
threatened to sabotage the law by any means necessary, forecasted the end of Japanese
culture and stated that bad influences from the west were taking over- a very public backlash
ensued during the 1997 new “vision” agenda.
Whether good or bad, it cannot be argued that western ideals did not have an influence on
the new agenda. It was even noted that, for the first time in history, an English word (gender)
was part of a public policy Japanese document, differentiating between the Japanese
translation or concept of gender as ‘sex’ which, in this context was perceived as meaning
“natural differences” rather than “gender equal”.
The new 1997 vision in Japan appeared to mimic the 80’s western perspective of feminism,
when images of shoulder padded ‘power women’ striding into the boardroom, sitting at the
helm, overshadowing her male co-workers and demanding to be treated as an equal were the
rage. In some respects, this encouraged a more “gender free” approach to breaking through
the glass ceiling.
Popular western culture reflected the cultural revolution
during this era in films such as The Colour Purple (Oprah
Winfrey 1985), Yentl (Barbara Streisand 1983), 9-5 (Dolly
Parton 1980) and Private Benjamin (Goldie Hawn 1980). All
films featured strong female leads with storylines centred
around empowered women overcoming a patriarchal
society and winning a battle of the genders. The message at
this time was clear - Women could do anything a man could
do and their choices were unlimited.
Whilst Western feminism in the 80’s (also defined as second
wave moving into third wave feminism) was seen as a
defining moment in time for gender equality, some may say
that the residues of the wave’s take on gender equality
eroded feminine and masculine societal roles and what was Goldie Hawn-Private Benjamin
viewed as the natural or biological imperative took a firm
back seat during this era.
This conflict is still at play as women continue to strive for work/life balance and acknowledge
that they don’t necessarily want to give up the idea of raising a family over their career, but
also don’t want to be saddled with all the responsibility that comes with having both.
Many successful western women I have spoken to who have chosen to pursue their career
over starting a family, when probed honestly are proud of their achievements but also wonder
what their ‘other lives’ may have been if they had made different choices. For a brief moment,
there is a glimpse of sadness whilst perhaps they are imagining their lives differently.
The proceeding decades raised debates about political correctness and feminism. For
example, was it inappropriate for men to hold a door open for a woman, who should pay on
the first date and who “wears the trousers” in a relationship. The “defeminisation” of women
leading to the “demasculisation” of men, blurred the boundaries and roles of each gender.
Whilst men floundered, not too sure of what
was expected of them and what constituted
“correct conduct” - women set out to prove
that, not only could they call the shots, but
they also did not require men in their
traditional roles.
At the same time, Japan passed a new Equal
Opportunities Law in 1986 which many felt did
not go far enough to address gender equality,
or which could be interpreted as not keeping
up with western ideals of feminism -
remember that “natural” differences between
genders were taken into consideration in
Gender Equality Confusion! Changing societal roles raised
some interesting debates Japan.
But the new law was also a sign of the times.
As the west went full throttle into a gender equality reformation, Japan attempted to keep
abreast whilst still maintaining a distance.
-It should be noted some Japanese feminists during the 80’s era adopted Western ideals, were
representatives of gender equality for their countries and given a public forum for their
opinions, but were the minority, seen as radical and did not reflect the true pace of the west’s
80’s feminist era in Japan. The law was subsequently revised in 1997 as part of the new
“vision” for gender equality and a gender free society.
Part 2 Womenomics -It’s Critics and Solutions outlines why Womenomics has fallen short of
expectations and how Womenomics can succeed. Coming Soon….

Further Reading
Japan’s 1986 Equal Opportunity Law and the Changing Discourse on Gender (Barbara
Moloney 1995)
Japanese Government - Approaches to Gender Equality Since the mid 1990's(Marie Osawa
2005)
The Japan Times- Womenomics’ Push raises suspicion for lack of reality (Tomoko Otake 2014)
The Times- Japan is ready for anything but immigration (Alistair Osbourne 2015)
The Blog Ecovision (Yash Bartri)