Thu, Mar 09, 2023 page6

• Japan’s female prosecutors find rare parity

  • AP, TOKYO
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  At the prosecutors’ office in Tokyo, everyone makes their own copies and tea — tasks often relegated to women in a country that has been criticized for its lack of gender equality.

  Twenty years ago, only about 8 percent of Japanese prosecutors were women. By 2018, that number rose to nearly one-third of newly hired prosecutors. This year, the male-female ratio reached 50-50, according to the Tokyo District Prosecutors’ Office.

  Japan ranks among the worst in gender equality for developed nations, despite being No. 1 in equal access to education for women and men. So how are women finding equal footing in the esteemed field?

  

  Prosecutors Tomoko Suzuki, left, and Rina Ito pose at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office on Monday.

  Photo: AP

  Prosecutor Rina Ito was quick to acknowledge that luck played a role, though her accomplishments did not hurt.

  Ito graduated from the prestigious Keio University, whose founder Yukichi Fukuzawa was a proponent of women’s rights and where women make up nearly half of attendance. She then passed the national bar, the stringent test required of all Japanese prosecutors. Now she is in her 10th year on the job.

  “When you think about who has the task of pursuing the truth, among judges, defense lawyers and prosecutors, it’s the prosecutors,” Ito said in an interview with The Associated Press last month. “Prosecutors can go after the truth. That’s why I set my heart on becoming a prosecutor.”

  Tokyo District Prosecutors are Japan’s top-brass upholders of justice, notorious for going after corruption in the highest places: the Lockheed scandal of the 1970s that unseated a prime minister, the Recruit company insider trading debacle of the 1980s, and, more recently, bribery and bid-rigging related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

  Reaching gender parity, as in Ito’s occupation, is rare in Japan. Women tend to be over-represented in the service sector and among clerical workers, while being fewer in manufacturing, security personnel and management, according to Statista data.

  Only about 5 percent of listed companies’ board members are women, according to the Gender Equality Bureau in the Japanese Cabinet Office.

  Ito’s mother was a full-time homemaker and her father a “salaryman,” but neither has discouraged her from pursuing a career. Her husband cooks and helps take care of their two-year-old daughter.

  She also said that prosecutors, male or female, get moved around a lot — as quickly as every year or two — to various regional offices throughout the nation.

  The shuffling makes it almost impossible to curry favor with bosses, or develop personal relationships that could affect advancement prospects and fair evaluation. That might help even out the score in Japan, which ranks 116th in gender equality in a list topped by Iceland and Finland, according to the latest data compiled by the World Economic Forum. The US is No. 27.

  Prosecutors are taking paternity leave in growing numbers, easing the gap between men and women, such as prosecutor Tomoko Suzuki, who took maternity leave for a combined several years to have two sons and is back full-time at her job.

  Suzuki said juggling being a mother, wife and prosecutor is a serious challenge.

  She has relied on her parents, older sister and babysitters for help.

  Her husband, who works in shipping, is based in Singapore. She puts her sons on a plane during school vacations. Her children are learning to make friends with flight attendants and enjoying Singapore’s diverse culture.

  “Yes, it’s stressful and tough to live apart from my husband, but there are positives, too,” Suzuki said.

  When they do get to meet, it is like falling in love again, she said.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Privately owned city in Kenya taking on corrupt officials

  • 2

    MOE to encourage foreigners to work in Taiwan

  • 3

    Napoli’s title hopes shaken by late Genoa equalizer

  • 4

    Kane tastes first title as Bayern bid farewell to Mueller

  • 5

    Taiwan celebrates V-E Day for first time