Equal Rights, Unequal Reality: Law and Gender Equality in Japan (Lecture by Prof. Frank UPHAM)

Zoom Webinar (Register here)

Japan outlaws gender discrimination in virtually the same terms as every equivalent country and yet it ranks 118th out of 146 countries, 111 notches below Germany, 103 below the US. Why? Is it that Japanese culture demands women remain meekly at home? If so, why do women graduate from universities at a higher rate than men? Why do they participate in the work force at a high rate? Why do they bring – and win – employment discrimination suits? This lecture will explore these questions and offer tentative – extremely tentative – observations on the reasons.

Lecturer
Frank UPHAM (Tokyo College Professor, The University of Tokyo; Wilf Family Professor Emeritus of Property Law, New York University School of Law)

Commentator
SHIRAHASE Sawako (Project Professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo)

Moderator
SHIMAZU Naoko (Deputy Director, Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo)