“Human Development Report 2008”>. That is higher

than the U.S. (ranked 15th), the U.K. (21st) and

Germany (23rd).

However, when it comes to the Gender Empowerment

Measure (GEM) — which measures the extent to which

women take an active part in economic and political

life – Japan’s record is far less impressive, ranking only

58th out of 108 countries. In fact, Japan’s GEM ranking

is the lowest among the top 25 countries in the HDI

ranking, falling after Panama (49th), Bulgaria (44th) and

Namibia (40th).

And whereas only 10.1% of Japanese women were

employed in managerial positions (1.7% in government

offices) in 2005, in the U.S. the comparable statistic was

42% (23% in government offices). In the boardroom the

statistics are also revealing: in the U.S., women account

for 15% of the directors who sit on corporate boards,

compared to fewer than 1% in Japan.

Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office, 2007 and A Guide to

Womenomics, The Economist)>