Turning the tide in Tokyo: How the city is boosting prospects for women

I think that the power of women is Japan’s largest untapped energy source, one that can power the country’s growth and help it reach its potential. Whether we can harness this power will make or break Japan’s future.        

We aim to achieve a society where every woman can shine in her own way, by supporting them in the careers they choose, and by tackling social barriers and outdated mindsets.  

Tokyo’s Initiatives 

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is leading by example. The ratio of women in our expert council that discusses the TMG’s key policies was only around 20% when I took the Governor’s office. 

As I strongly believe that diverse opinions are essential to improve our society, I have introduced a “quota system” to ensure ratios of both men and women at 40% or more. And now female participation ratios has steadily increased to exceed the target, standing at about 46% . 

We consider that caring for children is an important job that should be equally shared by men and women. We are providing subsidies to private companies to promote social awareness and encourage men to participate in childcare, prompting men to take leave for what we call “ikugyo,” or the job of parenting. 

We are also providing assistance appropriate to different stages of life from marriage to parenting. 

For those who wish to have and raise children but find it difficult, we have begun to provide them with subsidies to help cover the costs of freezing their eggs.  

A source of economic growth and innovation 

Promoting women’s participation in society is not only socially valuable but also provides a source of economic growth and innovation. Developing an environment that supports women to play active roles will help enhance competitiveness and revitalise local communities. 

As part of this effort, I have recently hosted the “Tokyo Forum for Women and the Future” and committed – along with the heads of Japan’s leading large, medium and small companies – to “transform Japan’s organisational culture at the top management level, develop female leaders and create a workplace where everybody can feel comfortable.”  

With this as a starting point, we will expand the network of companies committed to promoting women to higher positions. Our motto is, “Let’s change from Tokyo. Let’s move Japan.” We hope to steadily increase the number of female leaders in Tokyo before anywhere else and change Japan.  

To promote positive role models, we are developing a range of measures, including assistance to help female leaders acquire the necessary knowhow and networks.  

We have organised “APT Women,” a programme to empower female entrepreneurs, with the aim of increasing female business owners. So far, 240 women have taken part, and one of them has expanded her business with its total market value reaching 10 billion yen.  

We have annually held “NEW CONFERENCE,” which gathers together female business owners, supporting their mutual learning and network building.  

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will create sustainable new value by strongly supporting startups that are at the forefront of innovation and making the most use of cutting-edge technology. Our project “Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo” or “SusHi Tech Tokyo” for short, epitomises this endeavor. We will hold the project’s global event “SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024” in April and May this year, bringing together representatives and startups from cities around the world.  

Against this background, the “TOKYO STARTUP GATEWAY” contest was held in November last year to inspire young entrepreneurs. A record 3,000 people applied for the contest and most of the finalists were women. New perspectives and ideas have emerged one after another.  

To collaborate with female municipal leaders from around the country, we have launched “Vision Network by Female Governors and Mayors,” a conference seeking to back up women’s active roles in the whole of Japan. A total of 57 female municipal leaders took part in the conference and shared their initiatives for backing up women’s active roles as well as their best practices in supporting business.  

Tokyo and Japan are changing drastically. Please keep your eyes on Tokyo in the future. 

Sustainable growth of Tokyo 

By raising social awareness and expanding support, we will create a city in which women can demonstrate their abilities and everyone can achieve their potential. We will harness the vitality it creates to lead to sustainable growth of Tokyo and Japan.