EVENT
The ACCJ’s Women in Business Committee members
Women in Business Summit The next generation of women leaders in business By Megan Waters
T
he Seneca Falls Convention, held in New York in 1848, was the first conference in the Western world to be organised by women. It sparked the women’s movement in the US and could even have inspired the founding of the U.S.–Japan Council (USJC) in 2009. On 27 May, the council and the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) held a Women in Business Summit at the Tokyo American Club. It was a rare opportunity for representatives from
16 | BCCJ ACUMEN | JUNE 2013
Japan-based organisations that focus on the advancement of women in business to meet and discuss their tips for success. The event included two keynote speakers, a panel discussion and buzz session, as well as a training session conducted by Yoshiko Otani, president of Office Otani and a certified trainer for Dale Carnegie Training, and Suzanne Price, BCCJ vice-president and representative director of Price Global. The government, seemingly supportive of women in business, has seen encouraging moves by Japanese firms, including Hitachi, Ltd., who recently announced that, by 2020, they plan to
increase the number of women in senior management from 400 to over 1,000. The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party of Japan have both implemented policies reflecting their aspirations: by 2020, having women account for 30% of senior positions in government and the private sector. In addition, the government of Japan recently established a multi-ministerial panel, comprising the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. Within two years, the panel is to set up a new agency that will formulate childcare-related policy.