3 days ago
Japan OKs gender policy guidelines featuring aid for women's startups
The government on Tuesday approved its basic policy guidelines for women's empowerment, which includes supporting female entrepreneurs in regional areas of the country.
The Intensive Policy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women 2025, adopted at a joint meeting of government task forces, including the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, stresses the urgency of efforts to make rural areas attractive to women. It contains support for female entrepreneurship through gender equality centers set up by local governments.
The measure is aimed at encouraging women not to move out of regional areas. The government considers limited job opportunities for women in such areas as a factor behind the exodus, so it will expand consultation services and facilitate the establishment of connections with financial institutions to support startups by women.
The government plans to establish in fiscal 2026, which will start in April, an independent administrative agency to promote gender equality. The institution will support regional efforts through measures such as creating a database of experts to be dispatched to rural areas for lectures.
Ishiba said at the meeting that the government will promote regional development that makes areas appealing to women, adding that it seeks to "achieve a society in which everyone can live in their own styles."
