In a country where business executive ranks still find few women, some 360 female corporate presidents gathered Tuesday night in Tokyo, vowing to become the driving force lifting the country out of its worst downturn in decades.
The female entrepreneurs, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, joined the J300 event in the Omotesando Hills shopping complex in Shibuya Ward. The organizer, Colabolabo Co., operates the Joseishacho.com Web site, which aims to help create a network of female entrepreneurs.
"We have planned this event because I believe female presidents are the ones who can kick us out the economic slump," Colabolabo President Kyoko Yokota said at the opening of the event. "I believe in their strength in the recession."