Due to its dwindling workforce and aging population, Japan is increasingly promoting women into managerial positions. Recent statistics show that only 10 only percent of managers in Japan are currently women, compared with 31 percent in Singapore, 38 percent in Germany, and 43 percent in the USA. Therefore, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has proclaimed a goal to fill 30 percent of leadership positions in Japan with women by 2020. Mr. Abe recently filled five open positions in his own cabinet with women. A key reason that Japanese women have historically not advanced to managerial positions is the business culture of notorious long work hours. Although Japan’s powerful business lobby, Keidanren, currently has no women on its 24-member board of directions, the body has mandated its member companies to publicize their gender equity strategies and progress – and Keidanren itself plans to appoint women into board positions. Suppression, exploitation, and even persecution of women is a severe problem in many countries, but Japan is taking a leadership role by aggressively reversing its historical underutilization of women in business.

Source: Based on Toko Sekiguchi, “Japan Seeks New Salarywomen,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2014, A9.