I've worked for the Japanese & traveled to Japan where i took the Shinkansen the entire length of the island of Honshu. In general, I think the Japanese are subconsciously misogynistic.
Interestingly, I passed through the town of Fukushima but the train did not stop. That mainline of their bullet train travels along the coast mostly.
I don't know if its so subconscious, but it is beginning to change, but not quickly enough, one need only see recent stories like this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ictims-of-tokyos-medical-school-scandal-react
To see why.
They've had to hasten the foreign workers program as Abes ambitious plan of getting women more involved in the economy hasn't worked as fast as they'd liked, of course even if it had, they'd still be facing that shortage in labor.
A few years ago I outlined several steps I believe could reverse Japans current economic woes:
1) Begin a rigorous and aggressive strategy of ensuring all children learn English by the age of 18.
2) Allow for dual citizenship for all persons so that economic activity and investment can continue across borders, at present Japanese citizens with dual nationalities such as my son will have to choose at 20 years old whether they will remain a Japanese citizen or not. If he doesn't have to make this choice, he may allow the businesses and capital he may inherit to flow to Japan stirring economic activity.
3) Begin enforcing labour laws and put an end to death by overwork, it is my firm belief that if Japan can begin to liberalize this aspect of their society people will have more time to spend their hard earned income, they will enjoy life more, they will have more time to socialize and find a partner and it may lead to an increase in birth rate.
4) Work to break down the very paternal and ageist society to open up the economic prospects for millions of citizens. As it stands if you get to a certain age your economic opportunities minimize significantly, especially if you're a woman. Most Japanese work for the same company their entire lives and if they lose that it can be devastating. People can't retrain for different careers as easily in Japan because often times they won't accept people of a certain age.
5) In Conjuction with the increase in English within the population they must liberalize immigration laws to offset their aging population, some steps have already been taken but they are simply not enough, some estimates have said that if Japan does not do something to increase immigration and raise their birth rates, their population will collapse, it stands at around 120 Million today, by 2050 that number could drop to 80 million.
Its interesting that the royal family is a microcosm for the extreme demographic issues Japan faces, which are at least partially self inflicted.