There's a lot more than just maternity (or paternity) leave holding back Japanese women: the cultural expectation remain that women are there to pour cups of te

There's a lot more than just maternity (or paternity) leave holding back Japanese women: the cultural expectation remain that women are there to pour cups of tea, marry eligible salarymen, and drop out and rear their kids while said salarymen work insane hours. My wife (MBA, ex-Microsoftie, etc; not your average "office lady") briefly worked for a super-old-school Japanese trading company in Australia. Her boss wanted her to go on a business trip to suppliers in Japan with a client; HQ held out as long as they could (because what would the suppliers think if they sent a woman?), but eventually gave in because there was nobody else suitable. So they called up all the employees and proudly announced: We're sending a woman to Japan, for the first time ever! Everybody, a round of applause at how progressive we are! So when was this? In the 1970s, perhaps? Nope: 2011.