Women's advances in society are now a "must" in Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration pledging to make every woman shine. But many still find it difficult to break the glass ceiling in a male-dominated society —mainly due to their lack of self-confidence, speakers at a recent Tokyo forum on gender diversity said.
Since 2006, the Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity, a California-based nonprofit organization, has held forums in Los Angeles and Tokyo to advance the status of women in leadership positions in the United States and Japan.
Hiroko Tatebe, a former executive at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of California who founded the organization in 2006, said the group has provided a venue for people from across the Pacific to share best practices and exchange ideas on how to better include and empower women in society.