Attempts to appoint female leaders in Japan meet with resistance from men and women who see them as running counter to traditional values, according to the new head of the country’s biggest federation of labor unions.
"The perception that roles should be divided by gender remains strong,” said Tomoko Yoshino, the first woman to become president of the 7-million-member Japanese Trade Union Confederation, also known as Rengo. "Even if women are capable, they lack confidence. Men are able to pass as capable, even if they’re not. I sense that disparity very strongly.”
After breaking the glass ceiling at Rengo, Yoshino is looking at ways to help other women rise through the ranks in the country that has one of the developed world’s largest gaps in gender equality. Japan ranks 120th among 166 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2021, and the situation for many women has worsened during the pandemic because they make up the bulk of the casual labor force that has borne the brunt of layoffs.