Faced with a domestic economy that is sputtering, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has in recent months attempted to promote a sector that has long been underutilized in Japan — women.
Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly in New York last year, Abe pledged "to create a society in which women shine." Dubbed "womenonics" — a term coined by by Goldman Sachs Managing Director Kathy Matsui in 1999 — it's a policy he's pushed ever since, posing for countless photo opportunities whilst surrounded by women at the top of their respective fields.
In essence, Abe wants 30 percent of all leadership posts nationwide to be held by women by 2020. Based on current statistics, however, that goal is a long way from being achieved.