Japan's new female 'role models' seek to empower other women

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike knows how important networking and mentorship are to building a career, so she's making sure her administration offers women these opportunities.

Koike has rightfully had a much lower profile since her abysmal handling of the pandemic.

At that time, she definitely did NOT come through for Japan's working women.

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01025/

Koike is a role model? Good luck with that.

There's no other country in the world where women's power is so underutilised

So that will lead to path where women in Japan will be overutilized like salaryman that work day and night, and spend their Friday night with their coworker drinking until they passed out.

“My generation has to be happy, we have to enjoy our work, otherwise other women won't follow."

Good luck with that idea!

The title of this article is awkward. Ideally, Koike would be judged by her ability as a politician, not by her motives toward other women. I’m all for gender-blind laws, but I don't support gender identity-based politics.

I wouldn't say Koike is the best role model to represent the diet. I personally think Yoko Kamikawa suits this role much better. Koike was a great news anchor and seemed like a better role model then.

Female [politicians empowering other women is simply reverse sexism and favoritism. Koike should instead focus on doing her job and serving the people she was elected to serve. No more power brokers!

Like it or not, women themselves have to stand up and take issue with the inequality in corporate Japan.

In over 35 years of working in Japanese businesses I have too often seen women themselves meekly following along with the harassment and discrimination.

Ok, I laughed really badly at this, while throwing up in my mouth - how they're trying to sell one of the most corrupt and definitely the least successful Olympics in near history as a Koike success. Go home, lady and have a whisky. Your failures in management have cost the city and country billions over billions of yen.

Koike for prime minister!!!..

GO JAPAN!!

Marc LoweToday 07:56 am JST

Female [politicians empowering other women is simply reverse sexism and favoritism. Koike should instead focus on doing her job and serving the people she was elected to serve. No more power brokers!

So does it equally anger you when male politicians favor other male politicians so that 99.9% of politicians are male?

YubaruToday 08:18 am JST

Like it or not, women themselves have to stand up and take issue with the inequality in corporate Japan.

In over 35 years of working in Japanese businesses I have too often seen women themselves meekly following along with the harassment and discrimination.

Victim-blaming much?

As long as they're qualified and competent, I don't care about their sex.

Figures.

It's always about positions of power and prestige when we hear these calls for "women's opportunities in the workplace," isn't it?

Ladies, there are plenty of opportunities beckoning for you in factories, at oil rigs, up on outdoor power lines, at construction sites, in car-repair garages, and in industries such as plumbing and roofing and what have you.

These industries are in high demand, they pay well, and most important of all in terms of the feminist agenda, they're almost exclusively filled by men.

What an opportunity for women to break down barriers in these male-dominated jobs. But they never pursue that. Why???

Yeah, I think we know why.

Yubaru Today  08:18 am JST

Like it or not, women themselves have to stand up and take issue with the inequality in corporate Japan.

They also have to stand up for themselves, in Japan and elsewhere, and take issue with inequality and lack of female representations in the bricklaying, plumbing, coal mining, roofing, mechanical, and sewage-treatment industries.

Oh, wait. It's not those male-dominated jobs where women want to increase their presence.

It's only positions of prestige and power.

Even in Scandinavian countries, which arguably are the world leaders in making efforts to put women in career positions at comparable rates to men, the above sorts of jobs are still predominantly done by men.

So it really seems that women don't want equal opportunity at jobs. Just the so-called "good jobs" or the power positions.

I'd have no problem with that in itself, if lots of women were also pursuing careers in the above-mentioned fields in more or less equal measure. But they're clearly not.

Ladies, there are plenty of opportunities beckoning for you in factories, at oil rigs, up on outdoor power lines, at construction sites, in car-repair garages, and in industries such as plumbing and roofing and what have you

Yes, we’ve had that cut and paste from other posters.

Seeing that this article is about Japan, could you tell us the demand for these jobs in Japan and how much they pay.

Regarding Japan, I’m particularly interested in the oil rig worker demand and it’s pay.

Cheers.

Victim-blaming much?

Lol! Nope, not at all, just stating FACT. There is, for all intents and purposes, no repercussions for harassment or discrimination in too many businesses and workplaces here.

It goes from the seemingly innocuous casual touching, and invasion of personal space, to the blatant sexist commentary and a whole gamut of others. People dont say anything, neither men nor women, when it comes from people who are higher up the ladder.

Fact is that it is a universal problem, not limited to one sex or the other!

If I were a woman I highly doubt you would have commented as you did!

They also have to stand up for themselves, in Japan.

When there is a lack of education regarding this issue from birth, and taking the cultural aspects of how Japanese get along with each other, and typically dont make waves, what you are asking for is something a long way down the road.

It's really easy to just make a statement and think things will somehow magically change, but reality is different!

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike knows how important networking and mentorship are to building a career, so she's making sure her administration offers women these opportunities.

Unless those women are Chinese. Or Korean. Or from any other countries.

"Koike is one of the very few women who hold senior government posts in Japan, where society remains male dominated and many retain the view that a women's place is in the home."

This hasty generalization leading to a slippery slope. Though the topic is important there is insufficient evidence to support the claim. Mind you the so-called "women's place is in the home" to the Western civilization it may seems as a bad idea. However it's one of the reason among many a group of children can walk to school and back safely, cohesive family unit et.c Embracing the Western woman ideas is not a long-term solution but a faster way of human extinction.

Excellent point:

"Japan has its own way of doing things. You need to respect that.@kalimbatime

Lots of women are in some others woman business,and not take care of their own business ,their women boss did nothing for them,and I did a lot for these women ,like doing thing for their children,and their boss never bought their child a card

Lots of times women will not help another woman, because she may feel threatened by her as a competitior

The male managers in charge of all "democracies" have long realized the advantage of pushing females to the forefront of the political stage to gain electoral advantage and project "soft" power for the governing elite. This dealing of distaff figureheads from the bottom of the corrupt political deck has been a winner in many countries. In Japan people like Koike are the modern-day equivalent of the old kagemusha in a skirt.

I agree with her in general but I’d say she’s not a great role model overall. Despite her power in Tokyo she doesn’t inspire by doing things in a new or different way that connects to anyone other than her generation/politics.

Want to inspire the next gen of ladies to stand up? Show them you and they can be a new standard for the country and not another cog in the machine who conformed so much to the usual bureaucrats standard but the woman version of it. It’s the same reason why no one in the government now inspires young men to jump into politics

Want to run the birthrate to zero? Continue what you are doing, Ms. Koike.

Well she’s better than her predecessor(s) in the sense that she’s not an indicted crook or a blatant racist. The bar for Tokyo governors isn’t very high regardless of gender.

This problem could easily be solved if half of the male politicians identified as female.

@Jimizo

regarding Japan, I’m particularly interested in the oil rig worker demand and it’s pay.

https://www.jdc.co.jp/en/jobopportunity

Knock yourself out.

Quo PrimumToday 09:13 am JST

y also have to stand up for themselves, in Japan and elsewhere, and take issue with inequality and lack of female representations in the bricklaying, plumbing, coal mining, roofing, mechanical, and sewage-treatment industries.Oh, wait. It's not those male-dominated jobs where women want to increase their presence.It's only positions of prestige and power.

Do you know how many women mechanics there are, or women in construction, who get the same sexist attitudes from the men they work with?

Men to women: Hey girlie, this is a man's job, you can't do it, get out, or we'll harass you until you give up!

Also men: Women don't want those jobs.

Gee, I wonder why.

toraToday 11:53 am JST

Want to run the birthrate to zero? Continue what you are doing, Ms. Koike.

Sorry not sorry that Koike inspires women to be more than baby-making apparatus.

Means you think a) women don't stand up for themselves and b) women just follow along and accept harassment.

That is victim-blaming.

And you are assuming that the women who may not be the object of said harassment and just follow along and dont say anything are victims too!

By your misguided logic ALL women victims