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Opinion | So much for Shinzo Abe’s ‘womenomics’. Japan Inc still has no place for women
Kevin Rafferty says the gender gap remains wide in Japan, despite Abe’s pledge to uplift women. The country is controlled by conservative men who keep women out of medical schools, boardrooms, and the line of succession to the throne
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Shinzo Abe has just been re-elected as president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which gives him a chance to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. With Japan all set to host the Rugby World Cup next year and the Summer Olympic Games in 2020, Abe’s star also seems set to shine brightly.
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But appearances can be deceptive, and Abe has a bad habit of being stronger on slogans than performance: think Abenomics and womenomics, both of which caught the popular imagination, but have yielded less. Abe won huge election victories but failed to bring about real changes, especially with regard to the plight of women.
This failure became glaring last month, with shocked headlines announcing that Tokyo Medical University cheated young women out of their chance to train as doctors by deducting points from their entrance examination scores to favour men.
This should not be that surprising though. It is only the tip of the iceberg of Japan’s institutionalised discrimination against women throughout life. Japan Inc is tightly controlled by a closed, and frequently closed-minded, group of men, despite the fine promises of the constitution.
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