Women account for only a small 7% of senior positions in management in Japan. Prime Minister Abe needs to do more to change the business culture that tends to bar women from playing an active role.

Many women have lives easy, I doubt they want to change that.

Yep, you said it.

Did women in Western countries obtain their rights by just sitting around waiting for a politician to hand it to them? It is also pointless for western countries to lecture Japan about rights for women, the change in society will have to come from within.

This is absolutely true, but it won't happen any time soon, because the women here are just so lazy.

good post gaijinfo

This is what you get after decades of political promises and lies.

People actually believe that leaders actually have power to reorganized society in a way that's more pleasing to certain interests.

As if those that actually make up society have no say in the matter, and will willingly go along with whatever agenda their dear leader tells them (oh, wait...)

Abe can't even get corporations to seriously consider raising wages, how the heck do you expect him (or any other) leader to change any kind of corporate culture?

Most of these main stream media pundits really DO live in la la land.

Abe is the prime minister of Japan not America or another western country. The country is run in a different manner than the western please stop looking down on Japanese ways in a superior way.

Abe and Japanese media don't demand that America stops having the highest % of population incarcerated in the world, make the streets safe and many others. Get your own house in order before butting into the affairs of a country which is far more safer and equal than yours.

What if women account for only a small 7% of senior positions in management in Japan because....they don't want to? Just a thought. Many women have lives easy, I doubt they want to change that.

This would be like asking the head of GM to do more to promote walking and bicycle commuting. And an elected official has almost no potential to revise a national business culture. Even if one could, Abe and the culture that spawned him represent the self-same status quo he'd "need to do more" to change here.

This is not the responsibility of Prime minister Abe, it is for Japanese women (and hopefully men) to demand equal rights for women. If the rights are just handed on a plate without the change in the national mindset it will mean nothing. Did women in Western countries obtain their rights by just sitting around waiting for a politician to hand it to them? It is also pointless for western countries to lecture Japan about rights for women, the change in society will have to come from within. If Abe makes legislation to force companies to comply all that will happen is what happens in many cases in Japan which is the law is followed on a surface level but underneath there is no real change. We have legislation for all manner of things in Japan but the implementation never goes further than tatemae. This is probably because the necessary social change never really happened.