'Joshi bakari ga naze tsuyoi?" ("Why is it that only women are strong?") asks Aera (Mar. 26). The question may be a valid one, at least when limited to international sports events, where Japan's women over the past several years have been outshining their male counterparts as they excel in soccer, women's Greco-Roman wrestling, skiing and figure skating, among others.
Japanese women also shine brightly when representing their country in cultural competitions — such as 17-year-old Madoka Sugai's first-place finish at the Prix de Laussane 2012 international ballet competition in early February.
These strong showings would seem to contradict the 2011 GGGI (Global Gender Gap Index), compiled by the World Economic Forum, which rated Japan 98th out of 135 countries. With "complete equality" (which no country could boast) pegged at 100 percent, Iceland and other north European countries rated between 80 and 85 percent. Japan was accorded a low 65.1 percent, behind such nations as the Philippines — 8th worldwide and Asia's highest at 76.8 percent — followed by Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.