Gender Equality in Japan Post-Abe
VIEW EVENT DETAILSAsia: Beyond the Headlines
![Woman waiting at the Tokyo international forum in Tokyo in 2019](/sites/default/files/styles/1200w/public/2021-03/PA%20Image.jpg)
A woman waits at the Tokyo international forum in Tokyo on February 17, 2019 (MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images).
When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a landslide victory in 2012, he outlined his economic policy priorities dubbed “Abenomics,” with one of the three pillars focusing on the improvement of gender equality in Japan. “Womenomics” sought to empower Japanese women by facilitating a better working environment for women and enabling them to balance work and family life. Nearly a decade later, the results have been mixed, and few would argue that there is much to be done. While women’s participation in the workforce has increased, equitable access for women to management and leadership positions still remains a challenge.
What barriers continue to prevent further development in gender equality and what more can women and girls do to overcome the barriers they face? How can men and boys become better ally for women’s empowerment and gender equality? What recommendations can our speakers offer to both Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government and the private sector -- especially as women are affected disproportionately from economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us for a conversation with ITOCHU International President and CEO Claire Chino, Gojo & Company's Royanne Doi, former Chief Financial Officer and Chief International Business Officer for AEON Shinya Wako, and Squire Patton Boggs Partner Rika Beppu.
Speakers
![Claire Chino](/sites/default/files/styles/120x120/public/2021-03/Speaker%20Photo%20-%20Claire%20Chino.jpg)
Claire Chino is President and CEO of ITOCHU International Inc., and Managing Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation (“Itochu”), a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in Japan. Previously, she was Executive Vice President and CAO of ITOCHU International Inc. and President and CEO of ITOCHU Canada. Prior to that, she served as General Counsel of ITOCHU Corporation in Tokyo. In 2013, she was the first female executive officer of any major trading company in Japan. She received recognition through the World Economic Forum (Young Global Leader), Yale University (Yale World Fellow), Asia Society (Asia 21 Young Leaders) and the U.S. Japan Foundation (USJLP Fellow). She has also been recognized in the legal community as a “Top 25 In- House Counsel in Asia," “Asia Pacific’s Innovative Lawyer” (Financial Times)," “FT Global General Counsel 30 (Financial Times), and “Transformative Leader” Award (Inside Counsel). Most recently, the California Lawyers Association recognized her as the 8th Annual Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year (2018).
![Royanne Doi](/sites/default/files/styles/120x120/public/2021-03/Speaker%20Photo%20-%20Royanne%20Doi.jpg)
Royanne Doi is currently serving as an outside director for Gojo & Company, a social impact startup, focused on micro-finance banks in emerging markets. She served most recently as Advisor for Global Legal, Ethics & Compliance for Yamaha Corporation. Prior to Yamaha, she held senior legal positions with major financial institutions including Prudential Financial, Inc., State Street Bank and Trust Company and CIGNA/ACE Insurance. During her tenure as a global ethics officer, her Fortune 100 company received Ethisphere’s designation as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the first time in 2015, and multiple times thereafter. She also serves as Representative Director of the U.S.-Japan Council (Japan board), and has served on various volunteer boards including the Japan In-house Counsel Network, the Association for Women in Finance in Japan, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and was the treasurer/director of the Japan-United States Education Commission (“Fulbright Japan”).
Shinya Wako is President and Representative Director of AFS Corporation, which is the bank holding company owning Aeon Bank, Ltd. and other non-bank subsidiaries of AEON group. Before that, he was Executive Vice President of AEON CO., Japan’s largest retail conglomerate and the ultimate parent of AFSC, where he played various roles to navigate AEON group in today’s dynamically changing retail environment (e.g. aging society, shift in consumer needs and tastes, IT/DX driven operations). His responsibilities included corporate strategy, supervising overseas retail operations as well as finance and control as CFO. Before joining Aeon, he spent 34 years in the banking industry and worked for The Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Mizuho Bank. At Mizuho, Shinya became the head for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in 2008 and then became the head of the Americas in 2010.
![Rika Beppu](/sites/default/files/styles/120x120/public/2021-03/Speaker%20Photo%20-%20Rika%20Beppu.jpg)
Rika Beppu (moderator) is Partner at Squire Patton Boggs, where she advises Japanese multinational companies and international clients on mergers and acquisitions transactions in and out of Japan, as well as day-to-day commercial projects. She is recommended as a Leading Individual for Corporate/M&A in the Chambers Global and Chambers Asia Pacific guides, as well as other leading legal directories, with a track record in leading multi-jurisdictional deals. She is qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales and a registered foreign attorney and member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association. She is the Chair of the Legal Services Committee of the European Business Council of Japan (European Chamber in Japan), a founding member and former President of Women in Law Japan, an Asia Society Japan Center founding member and Asia 21 Japan lead, and a board member of Lawyers for LGBT & Allies Network.
This program is made possible in coordination with Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative.
![Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative](/sites/default/files/styles/300wide/public/2018-10/AS_Asia21_logo2012.jpg)