"Abenomics" has been taking a beating in the media lately.

This is result of the recent run of disappointing growth figures in Japan, even if this is mostly just the spillover from a slowing China.

More generally, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is suffering at the polls because of political issues, mostly related to his attempts to allow a more assertive posture for the Self-Defense Forces. But these struggles have obscured a big shift in the country's economic and social fabric that will be transformative in the long run: Record numbers of women are going to work.