Why Japan can't shake sexism
A short while ago, Yoshiro Mori, the Tokyo Olympic boss, made global headlines when he stated at a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting that women talked too much. A week later, he resigned, and was replaced by a, younger, female executive.
Companies criticised Mr Mori’s comments, but some of them have less than 1% female board members — something that needs to change — but to what affect. Could this be just the tip of the iceberg.
The topic of gender equality keeps making headlines in Japan, for all the wrong reasons. Indeed, just a few days after Mori resigned, the ruling party hit the news again by announcing that, while it was willing to allow women to attend its all-male board meetings, they would not be allowed to speak.
These incidents coincide with a steady drop by Japan in global gender equality rankings; the World Economic Forum describes the country’s gender gap as the largest amongst advanced economies.
An entrenched division of labour has impacted population growth. Some women, faced with the prospect of giving up work or stepping off the career track when they have children, are having fewer children, or none at all. Japan’s birth rate is currently at a record low. Its marriage rate is also plummeting – one factor there is that men worry they can’t support a family on just their salary.
Japanese society’s unspoken etiquette: in general, people don’t get into arguments, particularly with their elders. Japan is a country where people find it difficult to speak out regardless of your age or gender, it is said, If you do, you could be seen as selfish.
It’s the Japanese concept of “reading the air” – kuuki o yomu in Japanese. Even if you find someone’s remarks sexist, many choose not to confront the issue, so that the situation doesn’t become awkward. In the past, even if these leaders were criticised, they were able to apologise.
I must close, for the moment, with a related comment that is not discussed or debated. The Japanese ancient culture is quite unique and, in my view, should be preserved. Dropping Japanese demographics will introduce, so-called, multiculturalism. Should there be some concern that within a few more generations, the clam, serene, Buddhist temple culture will be replaced by the amplified voice of a muezzin.
Have you noticed how the unaddressed subject of immigration appears everywhere.
