0:00:08.250,0:00:12.876
Whenever I talk to young Japanese women,[br]all seem to have a common complaint.

0:00:12.886,0:00:16.708
"I can't find any role models[br]around me," they say.

0:00:16.709,0:00:21.496
"I keep hearing about the same[br]handful of wildly successful women,

0:00:21.497,0:00:23.488
but they have nothing to do with me

0:00:23.489,0:00:26.470
and I can't find anyone around me[br]that I could aspire to."

0:00:26.932,0:00:28.155
Well, it's true

0:00:28.156,0:00:30.987
that Japan has a long way to go[br]in the advancement of women.

0:00:30.988,0:00:33.344
After all,[br]the Global Gender Gap Report says

0:00:33.345,0:00:37.472
Japan is number 105 out of 136 countries.

0:00:38.166,0:00:40.607
But beneath the surface, I've encountered

0:00:40.608,0:00:44.909
many, many powerful stories of women[br]really trying to make it work,

0:00:44.910,0:00:49.174
women coming up against challenges,[br]overcoming them,

0:00:49.175,0:00:52.326
and sometimes[br]even turning them into an opportunity.

0:00:53.209,0:00:57.835
Here is a group of women[br]from Shichigahama, in Northern Japan.

0:00:58.222,0:01:03.024
All of their homes were washed away[br]by the tsunami two and a half years ago.

0:01:03.025,0:01:06.399
They're living[br]in temporary housing complexes.

0:01:06.400,0:01:08.871
Their futures are uncertain.

0:01:08.872,0:01:11.935
But take a look at this picture,[br]they seem kind of cheerful.

0:01:11.936,0:01:14.440
And look at all this knitting[br]in front of them.

0:01:14.441,0:01:16.004
They did all of that.

0:01:16.005,0:01:18.011
They knit every day.

0:01:18.012,0:01:19.887
Not just for themselves

0:01:19.888,0:01:22.283
they knit for everybody around town.

0:01:22.284,0:01:24.985
They knit for other tsunami victims.

0:01:24.986,0:01:28.893
And recently, they sent a batch[br]of baby hats and sweaters

0:01:28.894,0:01:31.758
to the refugees from Syria.

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How did this happen?

0:01:34.026,0:01:36.494
It's because of Teddy Saka.

0:01:36.495,0:01:38.137
Here on the right.

0:01:38.138,0:01:41.601
Teddy is a retired missionary from Ohio.

0:01:41.602,0:01:46.118
With a big, warm smile[br]that you can see here.

0:01:46.119,0:01:49.268
She was living in Shichigahama[br]during the time of the earthquake,

0:01:49.269,0:01:52.077
and she wanted to do something[br]to help the women.

0:01:52.078,0:01:55.385
She thought that well,[br]maybe if they kept their hands busy,

0:01:55.386,0:01:58.851
that might help them[br]take their minds off their worries.

0:01:58.852,0:02:00.550
It worked.

0:02:00.551,0:02:03.458
It worked even better[br]than Teddy had ever imagined.

0:02:03.459,0:02:08.167
Teddy held classes every week[br]- more than 30 women showed up -

0:02:08.168,0:02:12.199
some every single day,[br]including the weekends.

0:02:12.200,0:02:16.386
They knitted, they chatted,[br]and they comforted themselves.

0:02:16.387,0:02:20.775
"Oh, the bath water turned so cold,[br]so quickly in the winter.

0:02:20.776,0:02:22.753
How can I cope?"

0:02:22.754,0:02:24.543
"My husband's so depressed.

0:02:24.544,0:02:27.616
He sits in front of the TV all day[br]and does nothing."

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Of course, the knitting[br]didn't solve every problem.

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After all, they're still stuck[br]in temporary housing

0:02:32.810,0:02:34.282
two and a half years later.

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But it did give them something[br]to look forward to.

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They formed a bond.

0:02:39.324,0:02:43.297
When one woman didn't come in one day,[br]they said, "Are you OK?

0:02:43.935,0:02:46.231
Why aren't you here?"

0:02:46.232,0:02:50.381
Soon, people from around the world[br]started giving yarns to these women,

0:02:50.382,0:02:53.409
and they felt guilty[br]about just receiving.

0:02:53.410,0:02:55.573
They wanted to give back.

0:02:55.574,0:02:59.713
They found that the knitting[br]was a way for them to do so.

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Because they heard about[br]the refugees from Syria.

0:03:03.412,0:03:06.647
More than two million people[br]were fleeing their countries

0:03:06.648,0:03:09.144
to nearby countries, including Jordan.

0:03:09.145,0:03:11.391
They were living in refugee camps.

0:03:11.392,0:03:13.631
Some women were having babies there.

0:03:13.632,0:03:15.522
It was getting cold.

0:03:15.523,0:03:19.769
And there weren't enough clothes[br]to keep them warm.

0:03:19.770,0:03:23.467
So they just started knitting up[br]baby sweaters and hats

0:03:23.468,0:03:25.571
like the ones shown here.

0:03:25.572,0:03:31.310
And recently, they sent them[br]to a bunch of Syrian refugees in Jordan.

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This is Mayumi Hoshi.

0:03:33.683,0:03:35.722
She lives in a temporary housing complex

0:03:35.723,0:03:39.348
with her husband[br]and a 90-year-old father-in-law.

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Her home was washed away,[br]and she doesn't know

0:03:41.622,0:03:44.389
when she's going to get out[br]of this temporary housing.

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But she told me,

0:03:45.759,0:03:49.558
"Even for somebody like me,[br]in such a tough situation,

0:03:49.559,0:03:54.191
it feels so good to be able[br]to do something to help others."

0:03:54.192,0:03:57.472
I've been a journalist[br]for more than 20 years.

0:03:57.473,0:03:58.504
During this time,

0:03:58.505,0:04:02.068
it's been a deeply frustrating[br]but also fascinating time

0:04:02.069,0:04:03.673
for women in Japan

0:04:03.674,0:04:06.700
the year that I graduated[br]from college, 1987.

0:04:06.701,0:04:09.990
Well, that was the year[br]that the Japanese companies

0:04:09.991,0:04:13.552
started experimenting[br]with The Equal Opportunity Act

0:04:13.553,0:04:17.156
which meant that they could hire[br]a certain number of women

0:04:17.158,0:04:20.632
on the same career track as men.

0:04:20.632,0:04:24.418
But they were kind of tentative[br]in about how they went about this.

0:04:24.419,0:04:28.501
Imagine the frustrations[br]of a career track woman

0:04:28.502,0:04:29.791
working for a bank

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who's told that she still has to wear[br]a company uniform,

0:04:33.612,0:04:35.489
just like all the other women clerks,

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because otherwise,[br]the clerks would get upset.

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I myself got discouraged by this,[br]and I decided to join a foreign company.

0:04:43.516,0:04:49.618
Four years later,[br]I learned that 25% to half of the women

0:04:49.619,0:04:52.390
who entered their jobs[br]on the career track

0:04:52.391,0:04:54.568
had already left their jobs.

0:04:54.569,0:04:56.695
But this was just the beginning.

0:04:56.696,0:04:59.232
There were more and more women[br]entering the workforce.

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Some were in it for the long call.

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They were going to work[br]until they retired,

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and they wanted to keep their identity,

0:05:06.079,0:05:09.406
which meant they wanted[br]to keep their maiden names

0:05:09.407,0:05:10.747
even after they got married.

0:05:10.747,0:05:14.414
Well, this was against Japanese law,[br]you couldn't have two last names.

0:05:14.415,0:05:18.685
It had to be either his last name[br]or her name, and you had to choose.

0:05:18.686,0:05:23.090
It was very unlikely that he was going[br]to give up his name for hers.

0:05:23.091,0:05:25.088
Some women got creative.

0:05:25.089,0:05:28.241
They practiced[br]what I call "serial divorce".

0:05:28.242,0:05:29.563
It works like this:

0:05:29.564,0:05:32.834
they register their marriage[br]under his name,

0:05:32.835,0:05:37.264
but she continues to use her own name[br]in all other walks of life

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until it comes time, let's say,[br]renew her driver's license.

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What happens then?

0:05:44.054,0:05:45.311
They file for divorce.

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She renews her driver's license,

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and then they get married again,

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until it comes time for her[br]to renew something else,

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like like her passport, for instance.

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And it goes on and on.

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Well, it kind of gives you[br]new ideas, doesn't it?

0:05:58.956,0:06:05.423
Soon though, the long economic slump[br]meant that women were losing their jobs.

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The clerks were replaced by temps,[br]and the temps were cut all together.

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But some women didn't want[br]the corporate lifestyle anyway.

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They wanted to found their own companies[br]and do something they enjoyed more,

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like doing your nails.

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Suddenly, the manicurist[br]was a hot occupation.

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But it was a very competitive[br]scene out there.

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To really stand out from the crowd,[br]it helped to have a license

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not just in Japan[br]but in the prestigious U.S.

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So I followed a group of women[br]who all boarded a plane,

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headed to New York, determined to get[br]the New York state manicurist license.

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(Laughter)

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With them, they all had each,

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one of these[br]plastic hand mannequin things

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with long nails at the end[br]so that they could practice.

0:06:52.078,0:06:55.749
Imagine the guy who opened up[br]the luggage to check. (Laughter)

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Oh gosh!

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They hold themselves up[br]in a hotel room for a whole week

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to practice, practice, practice,[br]polish, polish, polish,

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and they all passed with flying colors.

0:07:06.262,0:07:09.827
The story that has stayed with me,[br]a long time after I wrote it,

0:07:09.828,0:07:13.265
is the journey of housewife Masako Torini.

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Masako was a well-off housewife,[br]who saw it as her life mission

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to tidy up the house

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and take care of her husband[br]and two children.

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She collected wedgwood chinaware

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and she spend[br]her New Year's vacations in Hawaii.

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Then, her husband's business failed.

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For the first time, in more than 20 years,[br]Masako had to go and find a job.

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She wrote up her resume.

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It had one job on it, flight attendant,[br]that she got out of high school,

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but which she left when she got married,

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as was the rule back then[br]for all flight attendants.

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The rest of her resume was blank.

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It took months and months[br]for Masako to find a job.

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But she finally landed one[br]as a hotel receptionist.

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It was a world that she knew little about

0:08:01.656,0:08:05.018
and which had little tolerance[br]for the likes of her.

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Her boss was her daughter's age.

0:08:08.153,0:08:11.658
And she found that she was really bad[br]at some of the basic things at work

0:08:11.659,0:08:17.460
like getting phone numbers down correctly[br]and spelling people's names correctly.

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But Masako hung in there.

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And in the end,[br]she found a way to make her mark.

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Remember,[br]she used to be a flight attendant

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which meant she got grueling,[br]intensive English language training.

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And nobody else at the hotel[br]could speak English.

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So, whenever there was as foreign guest,[br]it was Masako's turn to handle them.

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Masako's life also changed at home.

0:08:41.852,0:08:45.024
Before, when her husband[br]yelled "Ashtray",

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Masako would come[br]and bring it over to him

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even if it was right in front of his eyes.

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Now, after she started working,

0:08:52.396,0:08:56.518
he was the one[br]who had to take in the laundry

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that was hanging outside.

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One day, she ventured to ask him,

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"Oh dear, I'm so tired.[br]Do you mind making coffee for me?"

0:09:06.058,0:09:07.909
He grumbled.

0:09:07.910,0:09:09.482
But he did it.

0:09:09.483,0:09:11.517
(Laughter)

0:09:11.518,0:09:15.089
Japan still has a long, long way to go

0:09:15.090,0:09:18.025
in the advancement of women[br]as we heard today.

0:09:18.026,0:09:19.892
Japan has lofty goals.

0:09:19.893,0:09:25.833
30% of leadership positions to be[br]designated to women by the year 2020.

0:09:25.834,0:09:28.876
Well, last year that number was 6.9%

0:09:28.877,0:09:31.437
for companies with 100 or more employees.

0:09:31.438,0:09:33.742
So there is a long way to go.

0:09:33.743,0:09:37.404
But when young women come to me[br]and say that they have no role models,

0:09:37.405,0:09:40.378
in fact, there are a lots of role models.

0:09:40.379,0:09:42.914
there are lots of people[br]who could be role models,

0:09:42.915,0:09:45.588
but their stories are not being told.

0:09:46.277,0:09:49.617
I've had to push and plead[br]for people to tell me their stories.

0:09:49.618,0:09:52.926
I say, "Can I interview you?[br]Can I get your profile?"

0:09:52.927,0:09:58.322
And they would say to me,[br]"Me? Oh, but my story's so boring."

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I ask all of you here: don't say that.

0:10:01.763,0:10:06.362
All of you in this room[br]have fascinating stories to tell.

0:10:06.363,0:10:09.805
Tell your stories[br]to the young women around you.

0:10:09.806,0:10:13.445
And if you're a young woman,[br]ask about people's stories,

0:10:13.446,0:10:17.438
give them more examples[br]so that they could be empowered,

0:10:17.439,0:10:20.353
and show them[br]that there's more to be encouraged.

0:10:20.354,0:10:21.588
Thank you.

0:10:21.589,0:10:22.981
(Applause)