FACT SHEET

The statistical data below offers a profile of Japanese women, indicating where they stand in their society.

1. Population
   About 51% of the country's population is female.
2. Employment
   About 21.4 million Japanese women are employed, accounting for 40% of the entire employment.
3. Education
   An increasing number of Japanese women study in universities, colleges and junior colleges.
   
   In the 2001-2002 academic year, 32.7% of female high school graduates moved on to 4-year universities and colleges, while 46.9% of their male counterparts went to study at those higher educational institutions.
   Another 15.8% of the female graduates chose to study at 2-year junior colleges, although the ratio dropped from the peak 24.9% in 1994. Only 1.8% of the male high school graduates studied at junior colleges, meanwhile.
4. Politics
   The Japanese national Diet (parliament) consists of two chambers-- powerful House of Representatives (lower house) of 480 seats and the House of Councilors (upper house) of 247 seats.
   The lower house has 35 female members, 7.3% of the total; the upper house has 38 women, 15.4% of the total.
   Only 6.4% are women in the total number of local assemblies members of prefectures, cities, towns and villages in Japan, namely 3,982 out of 61,941.
   Only 3 female are prefectural governors.
5. Diplomats
   There are only two female ambassadors.
   Women accounts only for 12.8% of all diplomats, Foreign Ministry staff or Japanese embassy staff abroad.
   
6. Judiciary
   Of 3,049 judges at courts across Japan, 346 (11.3%) are women.
   Of 2,302 prosecutors, 161 (7.0%) are women.
   Of 16,395 lawyers, 1,848 (11.3%) are women.
7. Private sector
   Only a few women are seated on board of directors at Japanese major companies, none of them being CEOs.
   Female accounts for 1.6% of division managers, 2.6% of section managers and 7.7% of group managers.
   
8. Professionals
   Women account for 15.6% of medical doctors.
   Women account for 45% of school teachers. (Breakdown: 93.8% at kindergarten;
   61.9% at primary schools; 40.0% at junior high school teachers; 27.1% of senior high schools; and 19.4% of universities and colleges.) Women account for 27.3% of reporters, journalists and editors.
   

May 2002