Nearly 80% of judges in major Japanese arts competitions across nine sectors, including music and manga, have been men over the past 10 years, an organization of artists said Wednesday.
A report by the group "Hyogen no Genba Chosadan," which aims to promote gender parity across the artistic fields, found that 77% of the judges of the competitions and 66% of top-prize winners were men with the results highlighting the potential barriers women face in their careers.
"There are numerous instances where talent was prevented from moving forward and was buried because of gender," Chiki Ogiue, a critic involved in the study, said during a news conference with the group in Tokyo.