Project Description
Gender equality is among the most important and pressing issues in Japan today. It is also an old problem on which there has been very little progress. The main question before us is why such severe gender inequality persists, even though Japan was the first Asian country to industrialize, and despite the fact that its economy recovered quickly and grew immensely in a short span of time after World War II.
The UTokyo Center for Contemporary Japanese Studies (TCJS) launched the Gender in Japan project in January 2021. Issues of gender inequality have become more visible than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan’s gender gap is evident not only in its labor market, but also within families and society at-large. This project’s kick-off seminar was given in February 2021 by Professor Chizuko Ueno, a leading sociologist who has spent much of her career studying these issues. The large public interest generated by her talk at our center speaks to the importance of gender to communities inside UTokyo and beyond.
The TCJS Gender in Japan project invites leading speakers such as scholars and policy makers in various fields on gender-related issues to discuss their activities and research. Our events offer a great opportunity for thinking about the future of gender issues in Japan and beyond.
Sawako Shirahase
Director of the TCJS
Professor of Sociology, the University of Tokyo
Past Events
17:00 - 18:00 (JST)
Sputniko! : Artist/ Tokyo University of the Arts Department of Design Associate Professor/
President and CEO of Cradle Inc.
Design and Technology to fix the unbalanced world
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Catherine D'Ignazio Associate Professor, Department of Urban Studies & Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Data Feminism
17:00 - 18:00 (JST)
Yuri Okina, Chairperson of Japan Research Institute Innovation theme for Japanese economy and society
17:00 - 18:00 (JST)
Tomoko Kusuda, Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Engagement, L’Oréal Japan Women in business ~ the case of L’Oréal Japan
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Sawako Naito, Mayor of Tokushima Challenges and Hardships as a Young Female Mayor
17:00 - 18:00 (JST)
Yukako Uchinaga, Founder and Board Chair, Japan Women's Innovative Network (J-WIN) Diversity Management as Business Strategy
9:00am - 10:00am (JST)
Young-Mi Kim Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Yonsei University
Female Managers and the Gender Wage Gap: Workgroup Gender Composition
Matters
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Margarita Estevez-Abe, Syracuse University Gender, Partnership and Preferences for Work-Family Reconciliation Policies
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Atsuko Muraki, Guest Professor, Tsuda University “Women’s Empowerment” Policy Trends & Remaining Issues: Lessons from the Little Women Project
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Machiko Osawa Professor Emeritus, Japan Women’s University Japan’s Work-Life Balance Reconsidered
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Mary C. Brinton Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology, Harvard University Why Gender Inequality in Japan is Alive and Well
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Glenda Roberts Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University
Married Japanese Salarywomen’s Strategies for Maintaining Careers and Well-Being
in the 2000s
9:00 - 10:00 (JST)