In Japan's still male-dominated business world, there is at least one industry in which women have long made their mark: life insurance.

In the case of one 70-year-old saleswoman who asked not to be identified, selling life insurance door-to-door was the ticket to a lucrative career. Honored several times by her employer, at one time she earned some 22 million yen a year.

"At that time, I had about 10 to 20 new contracts per month," recalled the woman, a veteran of more than 30 years at a leading life insurance company.