04Vol.

日本女性エグゼクティブ協会

2015.01.25

NEWS Letter

http: // www.jafe.jp /Third JAFE Executive Seminar held on Oct.31, 2014
The third JAFE Executive Seminar was held with the guest speaker, Mr. Yasuchika
Hasegawa, Chairman of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives)
and Representative Director, Chairman of the Board & CEO of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Following Mr. Hakubun Shimomura (Minister of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology) and Ms. Atsuko Muraki (Vice Minister of Health,Labour and Welfare), who delivered a speech at the first and second JAFE ExecutiveSeminars respectively, Mr. Hasegawa, the first speaker from the business community, gave a lecture with the title of “The Age of Women Has Come at Last.”

Excerpts from Mr. Yasuchika Hasegawa ’s Address at the Executive Seminar● Since the beginning of the human history, attributes that characterize the male gender—power,speed, and spatial/position recognition abilities—have been considered important to achieve thegoal of continued survival of a family and tribe. As an inevitable result, human societies have been
historically male-dominated. However, such attributes are scarcely necessary in this modern era
with highly developed civilization and sophisticated technologies. Now we need to accelerate themomentum of change by raising the awareness of men who still hold advantageous positions
given that a significant amount of time would be necessary to rebuild the long-established socialstructure.
● Of all creatures on the earth, only human beings possess the ability to set goals and make efforts
to achieve them. Those who can achieve their goals are those who are not discouraged by repeated failures and continue their efforts.
● It is said that the keywords for corporate management in the 21st century are globalization,innovation, and diversity. Nations and corporations must establish a highly diversified organization to catch up with the increasingly accelerating globalization.

● The Abe administration is focused on the women empowerment as the core of its economic
growth strategies. It is fully determined to achieve the goal by implementing specific measures
such as upgrading child care/housekeeping support systems, developing a work environment that
accelerates the promotion of female personnel, establishing a taxation system that is neutral toany working style, reviewing the social security systems, and introducing flexible ways ofworking.
● I strongly believe that the advancement of women will rapidly gain momentum although the start
was somewhat slow. At last, the age of women has come. We male executives will also endeavor
to reach a watershed moment, through which we can enter a new phase of history where more
women are involved in management and promoted to managerial positions.

NEWS Letter

04Vol.

2015

01.25

Members Introduced at the Executive Seminar

Ms. Kumiko BandoMs. Teiko Kudo

Ms. Shoko Kawai

Secretary General of the Consumer Affairs Agency

Executive Officer and Unit Leader of the Growth Industry ClusterDepartment, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)

Executive Officer, Assistant Manager of the Main Office (in chargeof shop operation), and Secretary General of the Structural Reform
Promotion Committee, Matsuya Co., Ltd.

Ms. Bando feels that she was given an excellent management
opportunity when she was appointed as the Secretary General of theConsumer Affairs Agency. The organization is rich in diversity andserved by a number of individuals seconded from various
government ministries and agencies, legal community, privatecorporations, and municipal governments. She has also provided
support since her days at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT) to the advancement of female
professionals in the field of science and technology, where only asmall number of women are said to have entered into.

ReportMs. Kudo was promoted to the post of executive officer and unit
leader of the Growth Industry Cluster Department, SMBC, in April
2014. Currently, she is engaged in a joint project with a prestigious
Indonesian agricultural university to provide support to Japanese
farmers who are looking to enter into the Indonesian market, as partof efforts to share various types of information, create deals, andoffer financial support in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, andnew energies.

Ms. Kawai was appointed as the first female executive officer of thecompany after returning from her second maternity/child-rearing
leave. She is working hard to enhance her management skills while
making frequent field visits in the aim of further improving, based onher own field experience, the quality of service and hospitality of thefront-line staff.

First JAFE Two Way Seminar Held on Sep.10, 2014

“JAFE Two Way Seminar—Reaching for the Stars” is designed to provide participants with a clue
to solve their problems by covering topics that are specific and familiar to working women andencouraging mutual stimulation between speakers and audience.
The first Two Way Seminar featured Ms. Touko Shirakawa as the guest speaker. Ms. Shirakawa,
who is a leading researcher in the field of women’s life planning and known for her coining of theword “Konkatsu (marriage hunting),” delivered a speech with the title of “Work, Marriage, andChildbearing—Life Planning for Career-Oriented Women.” As the topic was very serious andfamiliar to the audience, the seminar was dominated by an atmosphere of great excitement.

JAFE seminar: An Evening with Our Female Cabinet Ministers
Time and date:
Location:

Wednesday, February 18, 2015; from 18:00
Manhattan Room, Tokyo American Club
2-1-2 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tel: 03-4588-0381

Female cabinet ministers
attending:Special guests:

Ms. Sanae Takaichi

Ms. Yoko Kamikawa

Ms. Eriko YamataniMs. Haruko Arimura

Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission,
Minister in charge of the Abduction Issue,
Minister in charge of Ocean Policy and Territorial Issues,
Minister in charge of Building National Resilience,
Minister of State for Disaster Management

Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment,
Minister in charge of Administrative Reform,
Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform,
Minister of State for Regulatory Reform,
Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate,
Minister of State for Gender Equality

Mr. Shinzo Abe

Ms. Tomomi Inada

Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

Prime Minister of Japan (attendance to be confirmed)

Representative ofgroup proposing event:

JAFE Secretariat

Minister of Justice

Chairperson of the LDP Policy Research Council

Ms. Masako Mori

Member of the House of Councillors

Japan Association for Female Executives

Attn: NPO Poppins Secretariat c/o Poppins Corporation, Hiroo Plaza 5F, 5-6-6 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-0012 Japan

Phone: 03-6450-4880 E-mail: info＠jafe.jp www.jafe.jp