Career Women in Japan Face Major Problems
 

In 1985, women held just 6.6 percent of all management jobs in Japanese companies. By 2005, that number had risen to only 10.1 percent, though Japan’s 27 million working women made up nearly half of its work force. By contrast, women held 42.5 percent of managerial jobs in the United States in 2005.

Experts on women’s issues say outright prejudice is only part of Japan’s problem. An even bigger barrier to the advancement of women is the nation’s notoriously demanding corporate culture, particularly its expectation of morning-to-midnight work hours.

Still, women’s rights advocates say that the realities of Japan’s shrinking population are slowly forcing change...



Source: Career Women in Japan Find a Blocked Path | NY Times

The career women have been facing major problems for decades. Things are getting better for career women now, but that is at the sacrifice of getting married and starting families. Young women are saying "What is the point of going to college for 2 to 4 years if I am expected to quit when I am 25 to start a family?" So they are choosing a new route, in droves. And kudos to them.

major kudos......I think.

Well, women in Japan were raised to make good wives. What the most recent working generation has discovered is that they can make a great salary, still live at home (though more are moving to single apartments), and do all the things that single girls like to do: go out to eat with friends, go to movies, travel, etc. with their own money, and still have enough for shopping, and other hobbies on the side. All this ends with marriage. A TRADITIONAL Japanese husband wants his wife to stay home, care for the house, raise the children, etc. She would still be able to see friends, but keeping up with the latest trends, shopping for clothes, etc. would all become a thing of the past. It was lose-lose for the young Japanese woman, so she said "Forget it!" Why waste your time learning a career you aren't expected to pursue? Instead they are continuing their career, husband-free, and loving it!

Funny thing is, I know a lot of girls who are just looking to get married and knocked up so they don't have to have a job to move out of mom and dads. I mean, maybe they don't say that is their intention but it sure seems like it at times. Maybe I just know too many, um, no easy way to put this, dumb garden tools.

From all of the women I have run into, I think most want to be home and raise a nice family. It's a different culture, and a better one in Japan in my opinion.

I don't know your living situation, jasonbvr, but I have found that to be definately true in the more sparsely populated regions. These kind of cultural shifts start in the big cities and move outward. Of course, not everyone catches on.

well the girls on my team, do want to get into a relationship but not that desperate.. guess we are still enjoying our lifestyle right now :D

Thanks for posting this article. There have been lots of posts claiming that there is no sexism problem in Japan, that women aren't culturally confined at all, and that really they really can't be relied on when it comes to long term work.

It's seems to me to be less of a choice and more of a lack of choices. Not that men don't have their own cultural crosses to bear. They also have a lack of choices in some respects. A man staying home and taking care of the children is unheard of, even if they want to.