When Sayaka Osakabe returned to work after a second miscarriage, one of the first questions her boss asked was whether she was having sex again.

Despite laws guaranteeing equal opportunity and a near parity of sexes attending university, Japanese women have yet to gain an equal footing in the workplace.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked up the role of women in his push to revive a weak economy, pledging that they would occupy 30 percent of all leadership positions by 2020.