Thursday Afternoon Lecture with Representatives from the Japanese Government
The economist speaks first - claims to be ignorant about political affairs in Japan.
From a minister of state, working on internal affairs (a woman, worth noting): Japan has experienced its own bubble economy. The last prime minister has been given a lot of credit for reforming the way the government works. The country was suffering from a large budget deficit, and the PM planned to downsize the government, but worked to ensure that there was no loss of services to the citizens.
The current prime minister has worked to continue this change. He also wants to create social change, and a key area of concern is gender equality. In the September 2005 general election, the ruling party put up a number of female candidates, and campaigned to ensure that they all won, which they did.
There is also a declining birth rate, which is a great concern. Last year was the first time that the total population was seen to decline. While it was a very small percentage, it caused concern. Namely, there are concerns about work/life balance, and also strain on the retirement system. There are initiatives to help this: free birth system; free new-child care; support for families; increase stipend for families with infants; increased numbers of childcare centers across the country. Also, shorter working hours, so that people have the opportunity to enjoy their family lives. As more women are educated, and more opportunities are given to women...70% of women resign when they have their first child. The goal is to support women, to reduce the number of women who must quit working. There is a deep mindset that it is too ambitious for women to both work and to have a family life. It is a priority of the state to ensure that women take advantage of child-care and leave, to reduce the number of women who quit working. For women who have already left, the goal is to train women to prepare them to return to the work force. The rate of marriage, in the last six months, has been on the rise again (after declining for the last 20 years); this is am unexpected benefit of the work that is being done in the Diet (government) to promote gender equality, allowing women more choices, to have their cake and eat it too. There has also been an initiative to support women getting a graduate degree, and to encourage them to step outside of academia to create change in other areas. The world, and the country, are becoming more knowledge-based, and therefore education is becoming more and more important. Math and science: women are typically steered away; teachers may, even unknowingly, discourage girls from pursuing math and science education and jobs.
Tired, very very tired. Sleepy. Jet lag, fried food for lunch, lots and lots of sitting and listening. It's incredible to be in Japan, but it's hard to stay excited about it when there's this much time inside, in a hotel, eating very western food. Tonight - a bit of sushi for dinner. Tomorrow, a Japanese style breakfast.
Peace-
Kip
From a minister of state, working on internal affairs (a woman, worth noting): Japan has experienced its own bubble economy. The last prime minister has been given a lot of credit for reforming the way the government works. The country was suffering from a large budget deficit, and the PM planned to downsize the government, but worked to ensure that there was no loss of services to the citizens.
The current prime minister has worked to continue this change. He also wants to create social change, and a key area of concern is gender equality. In the September 2005 general election, the ruling party put up a number of female candidates, and campaigned to ensure that they all won, which they did.
There is also a declining birth rate, which is a great concern. Last year was the first time that the total population was seen to decline. While it was a very small percentage, it caused concern. Namely, there are concerns about work/life balance, and also strain on the retirement system. There are initiatives to help this: free birth system; free new-child care; support for families; increase stipend for families with infants; increased numbers of childcare centers across the country. Also, shorter working hours, so that people have the opportunity to enjoy their family lives. As more women are educated, and more opportunities are given to women...70% of women resign when they have their first child. The goal is to support women, to reduce the number of women who must quit working. There is a deep mindset that it is too ambitious for women to both work and to have a family life. It is a priority of the state to ensure that women take advantage of child-care and leave, to reduce the number of women who quit working. For women who have already left, the goal is to train women to prepare them to return to the work force. The rate of marriage, in the last six months, has been on the rise again (after declining for the last 20 years); this is am unexpected benefit of the work that is being done in the Diet (government) to promote gender equality, allowing women more choices, to have their cake and eat it too. There has also been an initiative to support women getting a graduate degree, and to encourage them to step outside of academia to create change in other areas. The world, and the country, are becoming more knowledge-based, and therefore education is becoming more and more important. Math and science: women are typically steered away; teachers may, even unknowingly, discourage girls from pursuing math and science education and jobs.
Tired, very very tired. Sleepy. Jet lag, fried food for lunch, lots and lots of sitting and listening. It's incredible to be in Japan, but it's hard to stay excited about it when there's this much time inside, in a hotel, eating very western food. Tonight - a bit of sushi for dinner. Tomorrow, a Japanese style breakfast.
Peace-
Kip
posted by kip at 03:45
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