Japan got a little better last year in gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum: It moved up in the rankings to 94th place out of 134 countries, from 101st in 2009.
And bit by bit Japanese men are doing more at home, things like taking child-rearing leave and making dinner for their wives.
But Japan still lags far behind Europe and the United States and women have the power to change that, says Caroline Pover, who has worked for more than a decade to help make the lives of foreign women in Japan easier and better. She spoke with The Japan Times ahead of International Women's Day, which was celebrated Tuesday.