Women in Japan
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|
| Gender Inequality Index | |
|---|---|
| Value | 0.131 (2012) |
| Rank | 21st |
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 5 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 13.4% (2012) |
| Females over 25 with secondary education | 80.0% (2010) |
| Women in labour force | 64.6% employment rate (2015) |
| Global Gender Gap Index | |
| Value | 0.6498 (2013) |
| Rank | 105th out of 144 |
While women in Japan were recognized as having equal legal rights to men after World War II, economic conditions for women remain unbalanced. Modern policy initiatives to encourage motherhood and workplace participation have had mixed results. While a high percentage of Japanese women are college graduates, making up 77% of the part-time work force, they typically earn 27% less than their male counterparts. Traditional expectations for married women and mothers are cited as a barrier to full economic equality.
The extent to which women could participate in Japanese society have varied over time and social classes. In the 8th century, Japan had women emperors, and in the 12th century (Heian period), women in Japan could inherit property in their own names and manage it by themselves: "Women could own property, be educated, and were allowed, if discrete, to take lovers (sic)".
From the late Edo period, the status of women declined. In the 17th century, the "Onna Daigaku", or "Learning for Women", by Confucianist author Kaibara Ekken, spelled out expectations for Japanese women, stating that "such is the stupidity of her character that it is incumbent on her, in every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her husband".
During the Meiji period, industrialization and urbanization reduced the authority of fathers and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 (specifically the introduction of the "ie" system) denied women legal rights and subjugated them to the will of household heads.
After World War II, the legal position of women was redefined by the occupation authorities, who included an equal rights clause in the 1947 Constitution and the revised Civil Code of 1948. Individual rights were given precedence over obligation to family. Women as well as men were guaranteed the right to choose spouses and occupations, to inherit and own property in their own names, and to retain custody of their children.
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