Womanhood in Japan (October 2023)

“Womanhood in Japan” series column rounds up Japanese news related to women’s daily experiences of sexism here and considers what we can do to increase the pace of change.

Nobel prize winner calls out Japan’s lack of labor-market progress for women

In October, the Nobel prize in economics was awarded to American researcher Claudia Goldin, marking the first time a woman has been the solo recipient of the prize. She won it for advancing understanding of women’s labor market outcomes, particularly the “child penalty” in which women’s responsibility for the care of their children reduces their career opportunities and their income in comparison to men. The problem occurs in all developed countries.

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper (MSN Editorial: Nobel prize for gender pay gap research a wake-up call for Japan’s workplaces) reported that in a press conference on October 9, after the Nobel prize announcement, “Goldin emphasized that Japan can’t solve gender inequality just by having women in the labor force.” She noted that although there are many more women in the Japanese workforce than there were 10 years ago, they are mostly in part-time positions with limited career opportunities, meaning that there has been little real progress, the report said.

She noted Japan’s generous provisions for childcare leave, but that they often go unused because workers don’t want to inconvenience their employers. She called for companies to catch up with the social change that has occurred in modern households, and for younger generations to teach the older, dominant generations the new social values.

This last point is something we can all do. Each time my Japanese mother-in-law has mentioned that “university is wasted on a girl” when we have been talking about her own granddaughter, I gently, but firmly, tell her that times have changed. When I add that women need to be able to be financially independent, I’m sure that her experience of not having that opportunity herself makes it resound within her as true.

Female workers at Japan’s top banks earn about half of what men do

Goldwin’s comments were backed up just a few days later by the release of data from Japan’s five largest banks that showed that their female employees on average earn 54.9% of what the men do.

The ratio at individual banks ranged from a low of 41.8% at Mizuho Bank, to a high of 73.5% at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

Banks say the gap in pay according to gender is due to low numbers of women in management positions, and female employees’ tendency to apply for the lower-paying “general employee” category. In contrast, men dominate the higher-paying “comprehensive employee” category, which incurs longer hours, greater responsibility and the possibility of relocation.

Part of the reason Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank has the highest ratio is that in January 2020 it ended this job category system.

The differences in the categories are based on a society in which women take care of the homelife and kids, leaving men to work long hours and be unbothered by those issues. As of 2015, 64.4% of households earned two incomes and that figure has increased each year. Japan’s social infrastructure has not kept pace with social change.

The earnings data was contained in the banks’ latest annual statements, following a decision by Japan last year to make the disclosure of gender pay gaps mandatory. Some observers criticize that there is no further requirement for reform based on that data. But in Japan, where expectation and obligation weigh heavy, it seems to be having an effect, with the report saying that Mizuho bank and MUFG Bank are planning to end the job-category system for full-time employees. Consequently, we should make the most of these social dynamics and criticize the companies on social media and elsewhere to encourage them to meet our expectations.

The release of the data does also mean that workers seeking employment can aim for the companies with the best conditions for women.

Trend toward women’s clinics thwarted by funding system for medical care

In another area in which the social infrastructure in Japan is disadvantaging women, the number of outpatient clinics specializing in women’s health in Japan has halved in recent years due to unprofitability despite their great popularity, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

From 2001, such clinics were established in more than 400 locations nationwide in just five years. Their popularity was due to the attention they give patients, with a female doctor spending more than half an hour interviewing a patient. The Mainichi article focuses on treatment of menopause symptoms, which cover a wide range and can be difficult to categorize and communicate, thereby requiring doctors to spend more time with each patient to accurately assess them.

Under Japan’s health insurance system, services are priced per medical procedure, based on the premise of treating illness, and to be profitable, doctors need to examine patients within a limited time frame, the report says.

Ironically, the increased demand for women-focused clinics has led to their demise as “the long consultation time per patient has made it unprofitable to provide care through insurance, making it difficult to secure doctors,” the report said.

It seems like a no-brainer for Japan to subsidize these consultations. Not only would it make a lot of women happier in their daily lives, which one assumes meets the continuing political goal of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make a society in which women can “shine,” but it would also help keep them in the workforce.

Perhaps women can find their own way of supporting women’s clinics’ funding through a cooperative or similar format. Where there is demand, there should be a way. Even if that begins only with wealthier patients, it would be a worthwhile start and a hope for the future of women’s healthcare.

Gender imbalance at Japan’s top university is worth worrying about

In a follow-up to September’s column, two current and former female students of Tokyo University have written an excellent response to the opinion article, “Sex imbalance at Japan’s top university is nothing to worry about” that ran in Nikkei Asia last month.

This month’s article, “Sex imbalance at Japan’s top university is worth worrying about,” by Momoko Nakayama and Fumiya Uchikoshi, says the university’s gender imbalance is not “the result of voluntary self-selection,” as claimed. That simplistic view, they say, is “potentially harmful in failing to recognize how seemingly ‘voluntary self-selection’ is the outcome of socially conditioned norms that have unintended but persistent gendered consequences.”

Nakayama is a master’s degree student in a program focused on gender issues, and Uchikoshi is a doctoral candidate in sociology.

The reasons they point to for the gender imbalance are a lack of role models and the gender-biased expectations held by the parents, teachers and other people around the students.
“In general, though, studies show that women prefer less competition, are more likely to be risk-averse and tend to have lower levels of confidence than men,” the article says, also describing entrance exams to top universities as stressful and high-stakes.

They go on to cite data showing that more male students tend to enter Tokyo University after spending a year waiting to retake the exam, suggesting that “women are more likely to apply when they are confident of being accepted, while men may tend to apply even if they see their chances of admittance as marginal.” It also suggests that female students are less likely to be encouraged by those around them to wait a year to retest.

It’s a very satisfying read.

It also highlights the social dynamic in which a foreign guy can riff about anything he likes and have it appear in an international publication. Really, Nikkei Asia, do better. Meanwhile, please let us hear more from young women with expertise in the field of gender. How about a regular column by them, Nikkei?

As their article says, women need to feel a greater level of confidence before they take action, so let’s make Japan (and the world) a place that achieves that and gives women what they need to make the world a better place for everyone.

Parents in Saitama Prefecture nix proposed change to child supervision law

A win for parents, and mothers in particular considering Japan’s current social dynamics, with the withdrawal of a proposal by a group of lawmakers in Saitama Prefecture that would have banned leaving young children unattended even momentarily.

Leaving children under the age of 10 alone would have been strictly prohibited in the prefecture, which borders Tokyo, the national broadcaster NHK reported.

The proposal was intended to prevent children from being left alone inside hot vehicles, and other dangerous circumstances, but would have even forbidden parents from stepping out to take out the trash and stopped children walking to school unaccompanied by an adult, which is the standard in Japan.

A typical reaction to the proposal was that of mother of three and owner of a home nail salon, Shizuka Higuchi, who said, “The draft would have forced me to quit my job.” Higuchi added, “But quitting work would have meant being unable to earn a living.”

A parent-teacher association in Saitama City collected signatures against the proposal, and a single mother set up a Change.org petition.

It’s a good idea to voice your concerns and look for others who share your views when a proposed change strikes you as being detrimental to you and others. Band together and you will have strength.

Female actor graces kabuki stage after 400 years of men only

In happy news for women in Japan, after kabuki theatre has been played only by men for more than four centuries, actress Shinobu Terajima has recently joined the cast of a popular kabuki play, NHK World reports.

Terajima is well-known for her acting in mainstream roles and grew up in a kabuki family. Her father has been designated a living national treasure, and her brother is also a kabuki actor.
It is bittersweet to hear her, at the age of 50, recount thoughts she had as a child, such as, “I asked myself why my brother gets to perform on stage and I remain in the audience…I realized that even if I did the same training as my brother, I wouldn’t get the same opportunity to perform on stage.”

So far, it’s just one person, but it’s a welcome change back to how kabuki used to be before the government banned female actors in the 1600s.

Womanhood in Japan series