Portlandの暮らし

日本の女性社員たち

July 25， 2003
By HOWARD W. FRENCH (ニューヨークタイムズより)

TOKYO， July 24 - When Yuko Suzuki went into business for
herself after the advertising company she worked for went
bankrupt， no amount of talk she had heard about the
hardships facing professional women here prepared her for
the humiliations ahead.

As an independent saleswoman， she found that customers
merely pretended to listen to her. Time and again when she
finished a presentation， men would ask who her boss was.
Eventually she hired a man to go along with her， because
merely having a man by her side - even a virtual dummy -

increased her sales significantly， if not her morale.

"If I brought a man along， the customers would only
establish eye contact with him， even though I was the
representative of the company， and doing the talking，" she
said. "It was very uncomfortable."

Japan has tried all sorts of remedies to pull itself out of
a 13-year economic slump， from huge public works projects
to bailouts of failing companies. Many experts have
concluded that the expanding the role of women in
professional life could provide a far bigger stimulus than
any scheme tried so far.

But it often seems that the Japanese would rather let their
economy stagnate than send their women up the corporate
ladder. Resistance to expanding women’s professional roles
remains high in a country where the economic status of
women trails far behind that of women in other advanced
economies.

"Japan is still a developing country in terms of gender
equality，" Mariko Bando， an aide to Prime Minister

Junichiro Koizumi， recently told reporters. This year the
World Economic Forum ranked Japan 69th of 75 member nations
in empowering its women.

While 40 percent of Japanese women work， a figure that
reflects their rapid， recent entry into the job market，
they hold only about 9 percent of managerial positions，
compared with about 45 percent in the United States，
according to the government and the International Labor
Organization. Women’s wages， meanwhile， are about 65
percent of those of their male counterparts， one of the
largest gaps in the industrial world.

Japanese labor economists and others say it is no wonder，
then， that Japan， which looked like a world beater 20 years
ago， is struggling to compete economically today. With
women sidelined from the career track， Japan is effectively
fighting with one hand tied behind its back.

"Japan has gone as far as it can go with a social model
that consists of men filling all of the economic，

management and political roles，" said Eiko Shinotsuka，
assistant dean of Ochanomizu University and the first woman
to serve on the board of the Bank of Japan.

"People have spoken of the dawn of a women’s age here
before，" she said， "but that was always in relatively good
times economically， and the country was able to avoid
social change. We’ve never had such a long economic crisis
as this one， though， and people are beginning to recognize
that the place of women in our society is an important
factor."

By tradition Japanese companies hire men almost exclusively
to fill career positions， reserving shorter-term work，
mostly clerical tasks and tea serving， for women， who are
widely known in such jobs here as office ladies， or simply
O.L.’s.

Ms. Suzuki， who went into business for herself， is the
exception. These days Ms. Suzuki， an impeccably groomed
32-year-old who dresses in crisp suits and speaks at a
rapid， confident clip， is the proud owner of her own

company， a short-term office suite rental business in one
of Tokyo’s smartest quarters. "I am the only professional
out of all of my girlhood friends，" she said. "The rest are
housewives or regular office ladies， and they all say that
what has happened to me is unbelievable."

Whatever a woman’s qualifications， breaking into the career
track requires overcoming entrenched biases， not least the
feeling among managers that childbearing is an
insupportable disruption.

That is so even though the country faces a steep population
decline and keeping women sidelined has had economic costs.
Women’s relative lack of economic participation may be
shaving 0.6 percent off annual growth， a study presented to
the Labor Ministry estimated last year.

Meanwhile， at companies where women make up 40 to 50
percent of the staff， average profits are double those
where women account for 10 percent or less， the Economy
Ministry reported last month.

A recent issue of Weekly Women magazine nonetheless

recounted the stories of women who said they had been
illegally dismissed because of pregnancy or had sought
abortions for fear of being dismissed.

"I reported to my boss that I was pregnant and would like
to take off for a medical check，" Masumi Honda， a
33-year-old mother was quoted as saying. "When I came home
from the hospital， I was shocked that he had just left a
message saying that I needn’t bother coming to work any
more."

Other women say the intense competitive pressure in the
workplace can lead to resentment， even in progressive
companies， against mothers who avail themselves of child
care leave or flexible work hours.

One woman， who abandoned a career in marketing after
similar experiences in two companies， recounted taking
leave for three days to look after a sick child.

"After that I was not included in new projects，" said the
woman， who spoke on condition that she not be identified，
"and after that I felt they saw me as an unreliable person.

I finally decided that if I work in a company， I must
understand the company’s spirit， which means I couldn’t
feel comfortable taking maternal benefits."

The growing sense of urgency in official circles about
these issues is driven largely by the projections of a
population decline that could cause huge labor shortages
over the next half-century and possibly even economic
collapse. So far， though， government efforts to expand
women’s place in the economy have been modest and halting.

An advisory panel appointed by Prime Minister Koizumi
recommended recently that the public and private sectors
aim to have at least 30 percent of managerial positions
filled by women by 2020. These days there is growing talk
of affirmative action in Japan.

But changing mind-sets will be difficult. Earlier this
year， former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori， a member of a
government commission charged with finding solutions to the
population crisis， was widely quoted as saying the main

reason for Japan’s falling birthrate was the overeducation
of its women.

Mr. Koizumi’s top aide， Yasuo Fukuda， was recently quoted
as saying that often women who are raped deserve it， while
a legislator from the governing party said， approvingly，
that the men who carried out such acts were virile and
"good specimens." The latter comment came last month at a
seminar about the falling birthrate.

While senior politicians bemoan overeducation as the cause
of Japan’s population problems， women unsurprisingly cite
other reasons that make it difficult for them to have
children and also play a bigger role in the country’s
economic life.

Foremost is the lack of day care， which for many forces
stark choices between motherhood and career. There are also
the working hours of many offices， which extend deep into
the evening and sometimes all but require social drinking
afterward.

Haruko Takachi， 37， a postal manager， is luckier than most.

Her child was accepted into a 20-student nursery school
opened last year by the Ministry of Education.

It is the only public nursery school available for the
38，000 government employees who work in Kasumigaseki，
central Tokyo’s administrative district. Unlike most
private nurseries， which close earlier， the school remains
open until 10 p.m.

"I work until 8 in the evening， but there are plenty of
times when I work much later，" she said. "That’s just the
social reality in Japan. There are some other women in my
milieu， but most of them have just one child and don’t plan
for more."

Ms. Suzuki， who founded her own business， has been married
for several years and has no children. She regards day care
as just a small piece of what is needed in Japan. Men and
women， she says， must rethink gender roles - an idea that
she hesitantly concludes makes her a feminist.

"Men are really intimidated by professional women in
Japan，" she said. "But this is still a society where even

when it looks like a woman has some authority， the men
usually manage to stay on top."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/25/international/asia/25JAPA.html?ex=1060148271&e
i=1&en=171ac0aca4377792

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