The Economist April 28th 2018
#MeToo in Japan
#NotUs
TOKYO
A rare victory over sexual harassment
W HEN a female reporter for TV Asahi
told Shukan Shincho, a magazine,
that Junichi Fukuda, the finance ministry’s
top bureaucrat, had repeatedly sexually
harassed her, the reaction was galling. Taro
Aso, the finance minister, said he had no
plans to investigate Mr Fukuda. When the
reporter provided audio recordings as evi-
dence, Mr Fukuda said he couldn’t be sure
the voice was his. “I only hear my voice
through my own body,” he explained. For
its part, TV Asahi apologised for the fact the
reporter had told her story to the maga-
zine—failing to note that she had done so
only after she had come to one of her own
managers and he had advised her to keep
quiet. (The company did eventually lodge
a formal complaint with the ministry.)
The #MeToo movement has barely
touched Japan. “This is a land of men,”
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says a (male) former official, who says
there are “many, many” such cases. The im-
balance between men and women in soci-
ety and the workplace is more lopsided
than in other rich countries, leaving wom-
en both prey to abuse and reluctant to
speak out. Most women work, but almost
all bosses and top officials are men, says
Kazue Muta of Osaka University. Some
women, especially female reporters who
are expected to drink with (usually male)
sources, see enduring sexual harassment
as part of the job.
The imported term for sexual harass-
ment, seku-hara, was coined only in 1989.
The law obliging employers to take action
against it took force in 1999. “Many just see
it as unrequited or complicated love in the
workplace,” says Mieko Takenobu, a for-
mer reporter who heads the Asia-Japan
Women’s Resource Centre, an NGO. The
culture of respect for elites does not help.
Victims tend to be blamed and ostracised,
not sympathised with. TV Asahi’s reporter
has not revealed her identity.
Yet some hope this is a pivotal moment.
Mr Fukuda, who is alleged to have said
things like “Can I touch your breasts?” and
suggested that he and the reporter have an
affair, has resigned (without admitting
Week: {Feb.07, 2022}
wrongdoing). It is the first time in 20 years
that a senior finance-ministry official has
stepped down over misconduct. The inci-
dent follows two similar cases in the busi-
ness world. In one, a CEO resigned as head
of a company he had founded after admit-
ting harassing women in his previous role
as an executive at Dentsu, Japan’s biggest
advertising agency. And both the president
and a junior executive of NH Foods
stepped down over remarks the latter had
made to an airline employee during a busi-
ness trip.
Other ways in which women are dis-
criminated against are also drawing atten-
tion. This month sexist rules in sumo came
under fire when female first-aiders attend-
ing a sick man were ordered to leave the
ring. Some female politicians are encour-
aging more women, who are only 10% of
the Diet, to run for office. And this year a
court will reconsider the rule that married
couples must share a surname, which in
practice forces women to change theirs.
Opposition parties are pushing for Mr
Fukuda to be investigated and denied his
full retirement benefits. Some are calling
for Mr Aso to resign. Seiko Noda, the inter-
nal affairs and communications minister,
and one of only two women in the 20-per-
son cabinet, has criticised the finance min-
istry’s handling of the case.
Whether the momentum continues is
up to women more broadly, says Ms Take-
nobu. Japan lacks a strong grassroots cam-
paign. As Ms Noda observes, rights in Ja-
pan tend to be “given, not won”. Those
pushing for change see most hope in Ja-
pan’s current labour shortage. Companies
are desperate for workers, and are trying to
woo women with promises of good condi-
tions. While they speak mainly about flex-
ible working hours, workplaces where
women are not groped or propositioned
would presumably also be a draw. 7
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