The Basic Act for Gender Equal Society and Current State of Woman’s Participation in Society

Abstract

From 2019 to 2021, a three-year project entitled “Comparative Study of Woman’s Social Participation in Japan and Mongolia” was conducted in collaboration with Showa Women’s University. Within the scope of this project, the translation into Mongolian of three books authored by Japanese writer Bando Mariko – “Women’s Dignity”, “Women’s Policies in Japan”, and “Woman’s Leaders 4.0” – was undertaken.

During this work, it became apparent that “Japan’s Basic Act for Gender Equal Society” had been implemented on 23 June 1999. It was understood that this legislation arose from two primary circumstance: firstly, addressing labour shortages caused by a declining birth rate, and secondly, facilitating women’s smooth advancement into society.

Twenty-five years have passed since the implementation of the Basic Law for Gender Equality. I undertook this research to ascertain how deeply this law has permeated contemporary Japanese society and to what extent it is recognized by the Japanese people. To this end, I visited Japan for one month, from 17 January to 17 February 2024, to conduct my investigation.