Gender Gaiatsu: An Institutional Perspective on Womenomics

Injustice Continuity: Gender Inequality in Japan in the 21st Century

“…According to the introduction section, the struggle of Japanese women to voice gender-based justice. Hasunuma (2015) explained, In the 1947 occupation era, women's associations were incorporated in the Women's and Minor Bureu (WMB), which only dealt with labor issues. At that time, efforts to demand equality were voiced by feminist activists through the Japanese Socialist Party, the Democratic Socialist Party, and the Communist Party.…”

“…Furthermore, women are also far from union protection because their presence is considered temporary. Cook and Hayashi in Hasunuma (2015) explain that Japan's activism alliance is also less strong in establishing cooperation between women's movements, women politicians, government institutions, national bureaucrats, activists, and the Ministry of Manpower which is dominated by the interests of male workers. The various patterns of participation of women activists, academics, journalists, advocates, and the community in general hamper the continuity of relationships.…”

“…The Japanese Ministry of Education formulated a policy that women need to be educated to become mothers. The implication of this is that mothers are the central figures for educating children, especially in rebuilding post-war conditions (Hasunuma: 2015). The position of the Ministry of Manpower which is not considered a crucial position in Japan, efforts to place gender issues and position women in the ranks of bureaucrats are again hampered.…”

Japan's Womenomics Diplomacy: Fighting Stigma and Constructing ODA Leadership on Gender Equality

“…In Abe's second term in office, he rolled out Womenomics, a program to promote women in the workforce, as well as to launch women into 30% of leadership positions across societies. This high-profile initiative was built on the backs of previous efforts of the Gender Equality Council in the Cabinet in setting targets (Hasunuma, 2014; Hasunuma, 2015), and the 30% target itself reportedly originated as an ‘international yardstick adopted at a UN conference in Nairobi in 1990’ ( Daily Yomiuri , 2003). The highest-profile political commitments are support for legislation mandating that companies with at least 300 employees create non-binding action plans on women's empowerment, and to eliminate waiting lists for daycare completely by 2017 by creating an estimated 400,000 new spots (Coleman, 2016).…”

“…Kômeitô is important not only because of its role in supporting the ruling coalition, but also in gathering votes for the LDP in single-member district campaigns across Japan, particularly from housewives in lower- to middle-income families (Ehrhardt, 2009: 10). Yet a common and justified criticism of Womenomics is that it targets high-powered career women and offers little to nothing to women in non-regular work positions or housewives (Hasunuma, 2015; McNaughton, 2015) – precisely the women in Kômeitô’s lower middle-class base.…”