In my experience, women in Japan don't want to take risks, they don't want, on the whole, to take responsibility, they are less ambitious, less willing to sacrifice. Basically, most Japanese women lac

Japan badly needs more women like this. Japan needs more men like this, come to think of it!

Most Japanese women lack courage?

No, they're just lazy.

Are some women to be faulted? Yes,but you can also lay blame on a culture that still pressures women not to advance or take risks.

Sorry, but the above is also true of Japanese men. As a rule, all Japanese men and women, are less courageous, less ambitious, and far more risk-averse than people from other developed countries. That is one of the reasons why they put up with long working hours, mediocre pay, and allow their government to rack up staggering amounts of debt without complaining.

Japanese people as a whole are not particularly driven. Sure, they have been in the past, but that's because they mindlessly followed individuals who were driven.

But individually, most are happy enough to simply follow orders and collect a paycheck.

I blame this, in part, on their cookie cutter educational system, which does all it can to remove individuality and create drones.

12+ years of an educational system that punishes individuality and rewards compliance does take its toll on a person.

gaijinfoSep. 17, 2013 - 09:37AM JST

I blame this, in part, on their cookie cutter educational system, which does all it can to remove individuality and create drones.

12+ years of an educational system that punishes individuality and rewards compliance does take its toll on a person.

Don't just blame the education system, blame the society: It's like Borg assimilation on meths.

In their defence, if I had been born Japanese in Japanese society, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to be any different.

But why do they lack courage? Because they've been told to be quieter and quieter at every turn at every stage of girlhood so that by the time they are technically adults they still act like children, so that they can be nice and easily controlled by their husbands. Let little girls shout and get their opinions out and stop those adults (especially women who have it self-ingrained that women are 'ladies') who try to tell a girl how should act more feminine and etc. A meek woman is most likely one who's had some part of her spirit constrained since she was young and doesn't know how to release it. Sometimes it takes 'til their 50s and 60s, when these women who've become mothers become competent 'naggers,' to get back their assertive voice.

"women in Japan don't want to ... take responsibility"

And here I thought it was only the men!

In my experience Japanese women have a lot more confidence than Japanese men. I meet a lot more Japanese women who have been to foreign countries and speak languages for a start. They would do a lot better than Japanese men if they were given equal opportunities and I think they are kept in their place because the men know this and feel threatened. I respect what this lady has achieved but not everyone is cut out to do what she does. Rather than complaining that Japanese women lack courage why doesn't she talk about the real problem which is lack of equality of opportunity. Too many people that are successful pull up the ladder behind them and then complain that those who haven't succeeded lack the right stuff. The truth is that it is a society problem and not an individual problem.

To be fair, Japanese culture doesn't exactly encourage this sort of behavior - either for men, or especially for women.

To be fair, Japanese culture doesn't exactly encourage this sort of behavior - either for men, or especially for women.

Ths is untrue. Every Japanese student has heard "the nail that sticks out s hammered down". In schools all critical thought is discouraged. Have you ever heard of a debate club in a Japanese high school or university?

When I was a student, some of my teachers would ask me to read or study or a particular work, and then attack it; to try to find faults, and explain them. My teachers, or fellow students might disagree with my opinions, but argument was encouraged; I was expected to defend my position against all. This is simply unheard of in Japan, where one never questions one's boss or teacher. I have found debate to be far-and-away the most useful of the skills I learned when I was a student. In Japan, most couldn't define the word "debate", let alone put it into practice. Such a shame...

This "the boss is always right" is endemic in Japanese culture. In the cases where the boss really is right, it's actually a good thing. But in reality, the boss is often wrong.

Sangetsu03, you seem to have misunderstood my comment.