Hiroko Hashimoto on National Committee for UN Women, Japan

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/08/02

Hiroko Hashimoto, born on January 27, 1946, in Yamaguchi Prefecture (the same prefecture as former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe), has led a distinguished career in education, international development, and women’s advocacy. Graduating from Kyoto Prefectural University with a major in Japanese literature, she furthered her education by earning a Master’s degree from UC Berkeley Library School while working at the University of Hiroshima Library. Hashimoto’s dedication to women’s issues began with her establishment of an Information Center on Women at Japan’s National Women’s Education Center. She then moved to the Women in Development Section at the UN ESCAP in Bangkok, where she organized a Regional Conference for the 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing, serving as a Social Affairs Officer. Her academic career includes roles as a professor and vice president at Jumonji University and principal of Jumonji High School. Representing Japan at the UN Commission for the Status of Women from 2011 to 2017, Hashimoto has been instrumental in advancing gender equality globally. Since 2022, she has served as the president of the UN Women National Committee, continuing her lifelong commitment to women’s empowerment and development.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the biggest hurdle for women’s equality in Japan?

Hiroko Hashimoto: That depends on the woman. We have various problems. For instance, poverty, particularly among older women, is significant. Younger women also face poverty because their salaries are much lower compared to men. Many women are employed irregularly, which means their incomes are significantly lower. According to statistics, women’s income is around 70% of men’s, but that figure applies only to full-time, regularly employed women. Many women are irregularly employed and not considered formal employees, so their income is lower.

Poverty is a significant problem. Additionally, less than 10% of the parliament members are women, and Japan has never had a female prime minister. Japan ranks very low in the Gender Gap Index, the lowest among the G7 countries. Japan’s status in the Gender Gap Index is comparable to that of underdeveloped countries, with some countries having a higher status for women than Japan.

The status of women in Japan needs to be improved compared to other countries. UN Women Japan cannot directly support Japanese women because Japan is categorized as a developed country. Instead, we have to collect money from people in Japan and send it to UN Women in other countries and to the headquarters. I want to improve the status of women in Japan, but currently, my role is to collect money for women and girls in underdeveloped countries.

However, I am researching Japanese women through an NGO preparing the Beijing+30 report to evaluate the status of women in Japan since 1995. We plan to publish this report between October and December, first in Japanese and then a shorter version in English. We have many issues to address, including income, education, health, politics, the government, disaster, roles of men. While education appears to be equal for both men and women, in Japan fewer women attend university, especially graduate school, and even fewer study science and technology.

The number of women studying science and technology is much lower than in other developed countries. In Africa, UN Women promotes girl’s education in ICT, and the number of girls studying ICT is increasing. Government is trying to address this in Japan, but there still needs to be a significant gap between men and women, and boys and girls, in science and technology fields.

There are many such gaps in Japan. Another significant gap is in domestic responsibilities. Few men actively participate in housework, cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing. Women are expected to do these activities, which limits their ability to work full-time outside the home. Men can work longer outside the home because women care for household chores.

Currently, a big issue in Japan is the declining birth rate. Many younger men and women do not want to marry, particularly women, because they do not want to be burdened with household chores. The government says many villages, towns and even cities will disappear in the coming years. Almost all local governments are trying to attract more young couples. However, we don’t have many younger couples because of the decrease in the number of newborn babies. This is a big problem.

So, we may need to evaluate Japan’s future properly. As an online organization, we can only work indirectly on advancing the status of Japanese women, which is quite difficult for me. However, the other organizations I work with can promote the status of Japanese women. The main work of the UN Women Japan Committee is to advance and promote the status of women in developing countries.

Jacobsen: What about political representation?

Hashimoto: Yes. political representation in Japan has been very low. We have never had a female Prime Minister. Furthermore, the female ratio at the Parliament is 10.8% and Japan’s rank among 183 countries is  161 as of 1 June 2024, according to the data prepared monthly by the  International Parliamentary Union.  But now, our prime minister has nominated five female ministers, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs. So, the situation has changed slightly compared to last year’s Gender Gap Index in which Japan’s rank in political participation was 138 among 146 countries because we now have five female ministers. However, the prime minister did not nominate female vice ministers or other women for similar roles. Later, as the media mentioned this matter,  he later nominated one female vice minister. This indicates no intention to promote or educate female politicians to become ministers.

The main ruling party in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, often does not include the voices of female politicians. Female politicians who align with male preferences are treated better than independent women. This party is not conducive to changing politics as well as traditional social norms in Japan, as it is now the ruling party. Weekly newspapers discuss who might be the next female prime minister, but we have never had one.

Additionally, according to the law regulating our emperors, women are forbidden to become emperors. So, we can’t have a queen. The current emperor and empress’s only child is a woman, who is very capable, but she cannot become the queen of Japan because of this law. The Democratic Party is resistant to changing this rule.

As well, the education system is another issue. Teachers work very hard, but the content of education is regulated by the Ministry of Education, which right-wing politicians control. This includes religious influences, such as those from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was a right-wing politician. He and other right-wing politicians control the Ministry of Education, which affects the content of Japanese education.

Jacobsen: Do you think this affects the lower educational levels, such as elementary or high school?

Hashimoto: The basic content level, for instance, math and science, is okay. However, teaching history should be more comprehensive. Once they decide on the baseline for education, it can stay the same for ten years. It takes time to change the basic contents of education. They are trying their best, but right-wing politicians are controlling education. So, it’s not very LGBTQ-friendly. We finally got a law, but the title is “Promoting Understanding of LGBTQ.” It doesn’t say anything about anti-discrimination against LGBTQ people. 

Jacobsen: It’s a very diplomatic way of portraying it. It sounds understandable, but why don’t they want to say “punish” against discrimination? Is that politics in Japan?

Hashimoto: Yes, it is politics in Japan, and it controls everything.

Jacobsen: What about promoting health for girls and women? Are menstrual products, condoms, and IUDs part of the educational system and public provisions as well?

Hashimoto: Yes, education includes these topics. For instance, sex education starts for senior high school students. Former Prime Minister Abe influenced this change. Previously, sex education started in the 2nd grade of junior high school, but now it starts in the 1st grade of senior high school. This is very late.

Jacobsen: Are these topics mostly avoided in the educational system?

Hashimoto: Yes, because they have to follow the guidelines. Textbooks must adhere to these guidelines; if they don’t, they are not approved. Therefore, all textbooks write the same things. I hope they will change this so that sex education starts at a younger age.

Now, some teachers are engaging in inappropriate sexual actions with students. The Ministry of Education has started preparing measures to prevent such behavior. However, the department that prepared these measures is not the school education department but the department of other education, including women’s education. The school education department is just using that material, and only several schools and kindergartens are implementing it.

In Japan, children before entering primary school can attend either kindergarten or daycare centers. The Ministry of Education is only in charge of kindergartens, while daycare centers are under the Agent of Family and Children which was established in 2023, there are different controls for daycare centers and kindergartens.

We have a national machinery for promoting gender equality under the Prime Minister’s office, the Bureau of Gender Equality, which is trying to promote policies for gender equality at national and local government levels. Each local government has an office for gender equality so that policies can be implemented through the government and local government systems.

Former Prime Minister Abe didn’t favour the term “gender equality,” so the government had to prepare a five-year plan for gender equality without saying ”gender equality”, but, “promoting equality between men and women”. However, this has been changing. The most recent five-year plan, published two years ago, does contain the term “gender equality.”

Jacobsen: Which countries do you give the most funding to?

Hashimoto: Currently, we are giving money to Gaza and Ukraine because contributors want to support these areas. We collect money depending on the issue. When Turkey was hit by a big earthquake, the member of  international women’s organization contributed to  UN Women Japan Committee nearly 1 million yen in total. We sent the money to UN Women in Turkey Office.

On International Girls Day in October, we will have an event for South Sudan and collect funds for that cause.

We send the money we collect to the UN Women’s relevant offices or  UN Women’s headquarters, which allocates the funds. We also donated significant amounts to the Rohingya in Bangladesh. Depending on the situation, we direct our funds accordingly. As national committees, we sometimes face criticism when sending money to places like Gaza, but we have not received any complaints from Japanese people regarding this.

UN Women holds sessions about the situation in Gaza, starting at 9 PM Japan time. We recently had a session, and while other national committees face issues due to their activities for Gaza, we have yet to receive complaints or backlash. 

Jacobsen: What is the most effective move to further gender equality? What is the most effective thing to do in Japan?

Hiroko Hashimoto: There is so much to do. Globally, we still have much work to do regarding gender equality. Some men don’t understand women’s issues, but it’s not just men; women themselves often don’t think about gender equality. Therefore, education is the most important factor in changing the world for gender equality. Similarly, the role of mass communication is also crucial.

Changing people’s mindsets is difficult, but it’s necessary. In Japan, politicians need to change. Other countries are better at changing politicians, but it’s not easy in Japan because many people don’t vote during elections. When I was principal of a junior high school and senior high school, we tried to encourage students to vote because the voting age is now 18. Some senior high school students have the right to vote.

We had sessions for students about this. I told the first-grade students that many policies in Japan favour older adults because they vote in large numbers. Most older adults go to vote, but younger people do not. Education is crucial to changing Japanese society, but it takes work to change the content of education. When I was the principal of a private high school, I explained to third-year students that there are many policies for older people in Japan because their voting rate is much higher than that of the younger generation. Therefore, if more young people voted, politicians might start creating policies for them. However, after my speech, a social studies teacher told me we should refrain from discussing current policies with students. We need to change the content of education in Japan.

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