Japan Inc.’s lack of leadership roles for women fuels gender imbalance on boards Even now, three years after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made increasing women’s participation in the workplace a tenet of his prescription for reviving Japan’s fortunes, the proportion of females on Japanese boards has hardly budged — at around the lowest in the developed world. Japan Times, 14 Mar 2016.
Only 7.4 percent of Japanese companies have female leader Fewer than one in 14 Japanese companies has a female president, a survey has shown, and more than half of the women inherited the role from a relative. Japan Times, Aug 12, 2014.
Top Paid Nikkei 225 Female Leader Shows Japan Gender Hurdles Only one female executive made it to the top-earner list of Japan’s Nikkei 225 companies last year. She is an American who lives in New York. Blloomberg, 18 Aug 2014.
Widening Opportunities for Japan’s Women: An International Women’s Day Seminar on Untapped Human Potential Nippon.com, 15 May 2105.
Companies working to boost women’s role in the workplace Japanese businesses are working on measures to support child care for employees and promote the role of women in the workplace, in line with a new law that requires them to compile related action programs. Japan Times, 26 Sep 2015.
Japan's Female Netpreneurs by Gail Nakada This webpage looks at the stories of eight successful women entrepeneurs. Japan Inc. It also has links to the web compnies they have started.
Women entrepreneurship Key findings: Japan OECD, March 2016
Women Matter: An Asian Perspective Harnessing female talent to raise corporate performance Includes lots of data on Japan. McKinsey & Company, Jun 2012.
TOMODACHI MetLife Women’s Leadership Program "This ten-month mentorship program pairs highly-motivated Japanese female university students with Japanese female mid-career professionals to encourage networking among a select corps of Japanese women who show promise as Japan’s next generation of leaders." TOMODACHI.
See also this article about the Tomodachi Programme: Fostering a New Generation of Women Leaders "Japan recently brought into force a new law aimed at closing the gender gap in the nation’s workforce by bringing more women into mid- and upper-management positions. To prepare women for civic and private leadership roles, a program run in cooperation with the US-Japan Council and other partners provides young female college students unique opportunities to learn from prominent leaders in both Japan and the United States.Nippon.com, 7 June 2016.
Open Women's Leadership Programme in Japan "Leveraging our nine years of experience delivering tailored, in-house Leadership Development Programmes for Women in Asia, Price Global’s open programmes are available to individuals and company-sponsored groups". Price Global
21st International Conference for Women in Business, July 18 2016. "The Conference is open to positive and highly motivated people, regardless of occupation, age, gender or nationality. Men are, of course, also welcome to participate, as are high school and university students, those on maternity or childcare leave, and those on leave from work."
Women in business: the path to leadership Compares a number of countries including Japan. Grant Thornton International Business Report 2015
The drive for gender equality in corporate Japan A video about Calbee's policies on gender equality were female managers have tripled since 2009, that also asks about government policy and the action of other Japanese companies in these areas, BBC News, 29 March, 2016.
Calbee: Workplace & Culture "The Calbee Group aims to build a diverse workplace that is inclusive of all gender, nationality, age, and other differences. Diversity is a driving force for growth." This page on the Calbee corporate website includes information on promoting women mangers and gender diversity.
Gender Equality Policy in Japan: Current Difficulties and Signs of Change by Shunta Mori June 7, 2014. Includes a short section on Japanese companies that are introducing positive policies on gender equality such as Shiseido and Matsushita.
Shiseido Signs Guidelines Created by UNIFEM and UN Global Compact Shiseido recently signed the “Women's Empowerment Principles - Equality Means Business,” guidelines collaboratively created by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the UN Global Compact to serve as a practical guide for businesses and private organizations on how to empower women in the workplace. Sep 2010.
Shinseido: Diversity & Inclusion Support Measures for Women's Activities