Do PESTEL ANALYSIS. Many of the scholars who are studying the looming demographic crisis in Japan propose the same solution: leverage the potential of women in the workforce. Women traditionally have been an underutilized resource in Japan's labor market. In 2013, Japan ranked 105 out of 135 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. Female employment in Japan is characterized by an M-shaped curve, with 60% of women dropping out of the workforce after getting married and returning only after their children have left home. Evidence supports the premise that if the country can unleash the talent of women in the workforce, it will achieve higher economic growth, thus reducing the burdens of an aging population. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 2013 speech at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly demonstrated his commitment to encourage greater female participation in the workforce, which became one of the three "arrows" of the Abenomics policy. His administration's specific goals are to increase female participation in the workforce by 3 million and target 30% of managerial positions to be filled by women by 2020. Since the introduction of "womenomics," about 1 million women have entered the labor market. However, a wide gender gap persists. This article outlines the structural and policy initiatives implemented so far and examines some of the remaining challenges and social barriers. Explaining the Status Quo One reason frequently cited for gender disparity in Japan involves the expectations surrounding women's childrearing responsibilities. The country is known for a corporate culture that praises hard work and long hours. In this strong face-time culture, where employees sometimes feel pressured to stay at the office until their boss goes home, women who must leave work earlier to care for children can be perceived negatively, regardless of their actual contributions. This mindset applies to after-hours gatherings as well. After-work drinks and get-togethers among colleagues are a crucial aspect of forming relationships within Japanese companies, including with upper management. New mothers who cannot participate might be at a disadvantage during promotion discussions. In addition, the lifetime employment system and the tendency to promote based on the number of years an employee has been at a company make it more difficult for women to return to an organization after maternity leave. The high cost of any missed time may explain, in part, why fewer than 2% of men take paternity leave, according to government statistics. Both the strong emphasis on continuous participation and expectations that women will leave the workforce after having a child influence hiring decisions. Japan has a two- tiered hiring system: one for career-track workers, called sogoshoku, and another for administrative workers, called ippanshoku. According to the Japanese Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare, in 2014 only 22.2% of the sogoshoku were female, compared with 82.1% of the ippanshoku. The belief that men are largely in career-track positions while women are predominantly in support roles can lead to discrimination toward the latter group. According to Natsuko Tanaka, a woman who works in the Tokyo office of a global technology company, "men in their late 40s to 50s still expect women to pour their drinks whenever we are out." Harassment toward pregnant women, called matahara (short for maternity harassment), is also well documented. For example, women who become pregnant are sometimes bullied, accused of being a burden or forced out of the company. According to a 2015 survey conducted by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, 20.9% of working females have experienced matahara. Structural factors also contribute to Japan's corporate gender disparity. From a practical standpoint, it can be difficult for women in Japan to work full time while raising a family. For example, there is a chronic lack of day care facilities in urban areas, where more than 23,000 children are currently on waiting lists. In addition, Japan's strict immigration policies allow only foreign diplomats to hire foreign housekeepers, so it is difficult to find child care help if one lacks access to a family support network. Due to the difficulties of raising a child while working, many women must choose between having a family or a career. "Of my female colleagues at my firm who are married, I would say half choose not to have kids just because they know how hard it is to juggle both career and family," Tanaka said. Other structural drivers include the country's social security system and tax code, which provide strong incentives for women to stay out of the workforce. The head of the household in Japan, typically the husband, can receive a special reduction of about US$3,500 from taxable income if the spouse earns less than US$9,400 annually. Public and Private Initiatives In order to increase women's workforce participation, particularly in high-paying corporate roles, a number of initiatives have been enacted by the government and corporations. The government's approach emphasizes two aspects: support for life events that impact women's careers disproportionately, such as marriage, childbirth, child care and senior care; and women's career empowerment, including recruiting, career-switching, work-life balance and promotion improvement. Life-event support plays a critical role in enabling women to continue to work while raising children or taking care of elderly parents. For example, a bill passed in 2016 grants subsidies to corporations that allow men to take paternity leave. Some local governments give an allowance benefit of US$200 a month to working mothers for child care. In addition, the spousal income-tax deduction was amended in 2017 to lift the income threshold from US$10,000 to US$14,000 to mitigate the disincentives for women to step into more high-paying positions. Local governments have also been working closely with the private sector to increase the capacity of child care facilities. The Japanese government has pledged to subsidize 400,000 day care spots by 2018 to free young mothers from time constraints. In addition, the government has increased the budget to subsidize eldercare workers in rural areas, where many women have to quit their jobs in the city to take care of their ailing parents. Meanwhile, the government has endorsed career empowerment to promote a more frequent and higher level of female employment. Legislation to protect equal employment in Japan was not introduced until 1986, 22 years after the United States took this step. In 2015, amendments on sexual harassment and discrimination against pregnant women were added to the equal employment opportunity law. It is now illegal for employers to lay off women who choose to take maternity leave. Another part of the government strategy promotes more female role models in the corporate sector. Prime Minister Abe has set an ambitious goal to have women occupy 30% of leadership positions in the public and private sectors by 2020, which is nearly five times the current rate of 6.6%. The Japanese government has also put protocols in place to encourage companies to increase the overall number of female employees. In 2015, legislation was passed that requires corporations with more than 300 employees to report the percentage of new hires who are women and the percentage of women who comprise the management team. Moreover, each company that has figures significantly below the national average must provide the local government with its action plan to track its performance review and improvement. Companies are also taking steps to better accommodate female employees. For example, Chie Kobayashi, from Nissan's human resources department, addresses how her company is actively seeking to incorporate the participation of female car dealers. "We have established a diversity committee that works with recruiting and HR to cultivate future female leaders," she said. "We have also doubled the number of employees who can telecommute for family reasons." Some companies in Japan have built their own day care centers for female employees with children. Kent Garneau, chief financial officer of Asia Pacific Securities Division at Goldman Sachs' Japan office, said his company provides day care for all employees. "Our firm may have lost out on many talented female employees if we did not offer this service," he said. Challenges and Unaddressed Issues While Japan is taking steps to address women's workforce participation and has made progress, the issue may prove difficult to solve through policy initiatives alone. In addition to the structural issues that have been the focus of policy initiatives, there are many social and cultural barriers that are more complicated to resolve in the short term. For example, gaps in women's abilities and desires to participate in corporate life appear from a young age. While 45% of Japan's college graduates are women, they comprise only 19% of the student body at the University of Tokyo, Japan's top-ranked university. In the country's highly education-driven society, attending a top university can be a prerequisite for employment at the best companies. Acceptance into Japanese universities is determined almost exclusively by challenging entrance exams that students must begin preparing for as early as grade school. Accordingly, to increase gender diversity at the managerial level, it will be necessary to address setbacks even earlier in the educational pipeline. In addition to educational discrepancies, many women do not seem enthusiastic about participating in Japanese corporate life. According to a 2017 analysis by Sony Life, only 6.2% of the women surveyed felt enthusiastic about their current career position. In addition, fewer than 20% said they would accept a managerial position. Ongoing work-life-balance reforms that address the long hours and inflexible lifestyle may improve perceptions of working for corporate Japan and mitigate this problem somewhat. However, according to the same Sony study, 80% of the participants believed that women are at a disadvantage when it comes to working in Japan, and only 50% of women felt they are paid a salary equal to their male peers. Clearly, much more work needs to be done to build an environment where women feel they have equal opportunities to succeed. While the total employment rate for women in Japan is over 60%, about 55% of working women hold irregular positions, such as part-time and temporary jobs that pay lower salaries and offer fewer benefits. The increasing utilization of nonstandard employment in Japan an issue for both men and women needs to be addressed to ensure that gains in labor participation will provide meaningful financial security and opportunities for all Japanese women. Finally, making real progress in attaining work equality means addressing underlying social norms and expectations. For example, the ideal that a woman's role as a mother takes precedence over all is still ingrained in the Japanese culture. According to a 2016 survey by the cabinet office, only half of the Japanese people approve of women continuing to work after having a baby. "Mindset differences exist between men and women," said Tsukiko Tsukahara, president of Catalyst, a global nonprofit that helps companies build up female employment. Research by Catalyst shows Japanese men spend an average of 1 hour and 7 minutes a day on housework and child care, which is less than half of American men's average of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Reducing the stigma surrounding men's participation in domestic duties such as household chores and childrearing will be necessary for Japanese women to be able to balance family and career. This will require advocacy from both men and women. Women have the potential to play key roles in invigorating economic dynamism as Japan faces a rapidly aging population and a shrinking working population. Unlocking women's potential and reducing gender inequality will require serious efforts by the public and private sectors as well as long-term social change to address the underlying causes that put women at a disadvantage in their careers