The Seventeenth Edition of Roundtable Japan: Confronting Heightened Strategic Challenges - The leap forward that achieving genuine gender diversity would mean for Japan

Despite well-intended policies for promoting the role of women in Japan’s economy and society, such as the un-met target announced in 2003 to have women holding 30% of leadership and management positions, multiple examples attest regularly that the gender gap remains as wide as ever in Japan. Only around 11% of seats on corporate executive boards are held by women and the country is at the bottom position among the developed countries in this domain.
This is even more damaging that a significant part of the solution to the country’s demographic challenges is to ensure an even greater female participation – already at close to 73% against an OECD average of 65% - in the workforce.
A number of examples in various countries show that rising female participation does not only result in higher GDP but also bring an higher productivity, thus boosting potential GDP growth. In the same way, a greater female participation in politics would provide a platform to the voices of Japanese women to help address some acute female specific issues such as sexual harassment and childcare provision.