Dr. Mariko Bando gave a presentation on gender.

On February 9, 2009, a delegation from Showa Women's University (Japan) visited and worked at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Following the meeting with the university's leadership, Dr. Mariko Bando - the Rector - gave a presentation to students of the Faculty of Oriental Studies on the issue of women and gender inequality in Japan today.

A frequently asked question regarding gender issues in Japan is: Why do Japanese women seem to be absent from important positions in the Japanese government and organizations? In response, Dr. Mariko presented a series of figures: 50.8% of the Japanese population is female, 41% of current employees are women, 9.4% of the lower house is female, there are 2 female ministers out of 17 cabinet ministers, 1/3 of doctors are women, and women make up 1/4 of the legal profession. While these figures suggest a low percentage of women participating in government work, the proportion of women working in non-governmental organizations and other social activities is quite large. Currently, there is still a prevailing sense of apprehension and low regard for female workers among managers and human resources professionals in Japan. They believe that girls will eventually get married and have children, so they cannot fully dedicate themselves to their careers. Therefore, women are often not given important jobs and positions. On the other hand, society still places a heavy emphasis on women's responsibilities to family and children. It is believed that women should sacrifice their careers and other personal freedoms to focus on the more important task of creating, nurturing, and training the next generation, and taking care of household chores. Men, on the other hand, focus on developing their careers. This social division of labor is accepted as a matter of course, even for women. Dr. Mariko also noted that Japanese men are among the laziest at housework in the world. Only 10% of men admit to helping their wives with housework, compared to 30% in European countries, and especially 40% in Sweden.

In recent years, the Japanese government has made many adjustments to its legal framework to create more favorable conditions for women in the workplace and in participating in various social activities. For example, it has added preferential conditions regarding time and salary during pregnancy, and built more daycare centers so women can send their children and return to work sooner. Furthermore, one of the Japanese government's goals is to have 30% of central and local government leaders be women by 2020. Society has also become more open-minded and values ​​the position of women in social work more highly. This has also made young women today more confident and given them more opportunities to express their abilities and individuality.

At the end of the presentation, Dr. Mariko also received many questions from students interested in several issues: love and marriage among young people in the past and present, the division of labor between men and women in the family, the concept of women's careers in modern society, and manifestations of gender inequality in contemporary Japanese society...