JAPAN
But more than half of working women are employed part time, and about a third are on temporary contracts. Women in Japan hold fewer than 1 percent of management positions, compared with an average of 4.6 percent among the world’s most developed nations.
And Japanese women often face a double-edged sword. Like many other Japanese companies, Nishimasa’s employer accommodates her towering domestic responsibilities. Until her youngest child, 2, enters second grade, she can work a shortened seven-hour day, albeit for 30 percent lower pay. She is never asked to do the kind of overtime she regularly put in before her children were born, when she was often at the office until 10 p.m. or later.
After Nishimasa graduated from a top university in Tokyo, she worked for a textbook publisher as a sales associate. She married four years later. Much to her shock, the company automatically converted her employment status to part time, she said.
“My boss started saying, ‘You are not long for this job because you’re probably just going to go off and have kids, right?’” she recalled.
She looked for another job, but prospective employers said, “You probably can’t work late, right?” or “Does your husband understand how busy you will be?”
The publisher where she landed did not ask her marital status. But the hours were intense, and when she did get pregnant, at 29, she did not slow down, often remaining in the office until midnight. She miscarried in the final month of her pregnancy.
She got pregnant again, yet continued working long hours. After giving birth, Nishimasa never thought of quitting. But because her husband is expected to meet rigorous targets to qualify for raises and promotions, Nishimasa cut back on work to take care of the children.
“Theoretically, it sounds ideal to have me work fewer hours and Yoshiko work more,” said her husband, Kazuhiro Nishimasa. “But realistically, it is not feasible.”
The juggle took a toll. One rainy morning, Nishimasa wrestled with the children while rushing down the stairs. In her hurry, she fell, breaking a leg.
After the accident, Kazuhiro Nishimasa came home early in the evenings for two months and agreed to drop off the children at day care on his way to work, one of the few tasks he still does.
Now, Kazuhiro Nishimasa is back to working long hours to keep up with their mortgage payments. He rarely makes it home before 10 p.m., and is often out much later. On Saturdays, he sleeps in while his wife shuttles the three children to activities.
Just over half of Japanese mothers go back to work after the birth of their first child. But they often have part-time jobs while their husbands continue to work brutal hours.
Some experts argue that Japan’s culture of overwork is unnecessary, leading to inefficiencies and low productivity. If everyone worked fewer hours, women might be able to catch up, and Japanese society would benefit, they contend.
Despite some efforts to modify the work culture, excessive hours remain the norm, helping explain why men contribute so little to housework or child care: They do not have much time.
Entrenched cultural expectations are another obstacle. Last year, when homebuilder Daiwa House surveyed 300 working couples, most of the respondents said women completed close to 90 percent of the chores at home, many of which were unacknowledged by their husbands.
“The awareness of men is still so low,” said Kazuko Yoshida, 38, a graphic designer and mother of two young children in Tokyo. “My husband does not have a gender-equality concept.”
Her husband, Takahisa Yoshida, said he lacks the confidence to handle two young children on his own.
“I work so hard,” he said. “I come home late at night and am exhausted in the morning.”