And Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thinks he's found the answer... women.

而首相安倍晉三認為他找到答案了…女人。

Abe has outlined goals to create a “Japan in which women shine”.

安倍概述了他的理念為「讓女性發光的日本」，

The name given to it: “Womenomics.”

而這個概念被命名為「女性經濟」。

But while Womenomics has seen some success getting more women into the workforce, it still faces serious cultural hurdles.

然而當女性經濟看似成功將女性帶入職場，它仍遇到許多嚴重的文化障礙。

This is your Bloomberg QuickTake on the challenge of breaking down gender bias in Japan.

Bloomberg QuickTake 將試著探究日本的性別歧視問題。

By 2020, Abe wants 30% of leadership positions to be filled by women.

到 2020 年時，安倍希望 30% 的領導職能由女性擔任。

He's urged listed companies to appoint women to executive and managerial roles.

他要求一些公司必須任命女性為董事或管理階層職位。

And he's working to fix Japan's daycare shortage, while encouraging workplaces to be more accommodating, so that mothers will feel more inclined to rejoin the labor force.

他也試著解決日本的托兒所短缺問題，讓職場變得對女性更友善，有利於提升媽媽們重回職場的意願。

And it is working… sort of.

成效看似不錯。

Female labor participation rate rose from 46.2% in 2012 to 49.8% in 2017.

女性勞動參與率從 2012 的 46.2% 年上升到 2017年的 49.8%。

Isabel Reynolds: But most of the women that have been added to the workforce are working in these relatively low-paid, part-time jobs.

Isabel Reynolds: 但是增加的職場女姓多做著相對低薪的兼職工作。

There's kind of a mismatch there with his goal of getting more women into management.

這不太符合安倍把女性帶進管理階層的理念。

Although Abe frequently touts the success of “Womenomics”, a closer look highlights a work culture that systematically excludes women.

雖然安倍時常宣傳他「女性經濟」的成功，但是仔細研究會發現日本的職場文化仍將女性排除在外。

An expectation that women should stay at home and be primary caregivers has held them back in workplaces all over the world, but in Japan that view is particularly deep-rooted.

這種排外感來自於社會認為女性就該擔任家庭主婦及照顧者。這樣不利於全球女性進入職場的傳統觀念在日本已根深蒂固。

A 2016 poll found that 45% of the men surveyed agreed that “women-should-stay-at-home”.

2016 年的民調顯示 45% 的男性認為「女性該待在家」。

Japan also has the third-highest gender pay gap in the more developed OECD countries.

日本的性別收入差異在經濟合作與發展組織的已開發國家中為第三高。

Although companies such as Toyota are appointing female executives, change has been slow.

雖然豐田汽車等部分公司已任命女性董事，但是改變依舊緩慢。

Only 4% of managerial positions are held by women in Japan compared with 9% in China and 17% in the US.

在日本，只有 4% 的管理階層是女性，相較於中國的 9% 以及美國 17% 。

Isabel Reynolds: It's just very much the working culture has built up around men and around the long hours they work.

Isabel Reynolds：這跟日本以男性為主及工時長的職場文化息息相關。

It can be very bonding, they go out drinking together in the evening, and women simply don't fit into that cozy little world in a lot of cases.

他們的職場生活相當不自由。男人們晚上常去喝酒應酬，但這樣的文化卻在許多情況下不利於女性。

On top of that, just a tenth of the members of Japan's lower house are women, ranking the nation among the lowest in female political representation in the world.

除此之外，只有十分之一的日本眾議院成員是女性，為全球政治人物中女性比例最低的國家。

Isabel Reynolds: If you look at Prime Minister Abe's cabinet, he in fact only has two women, at the moment, out of 20.

Isabel Reynolds：如果你看過安倍首相的內閣，會發現實際上 20 名內閣閣員之中，只有 2 位女性。

So he's not really reaching his own target of having 30% of management positions taken up by women.

所以，他自己也沒有達到讓 30% 女性擔任管理階層的目標。

Some say quotas should ultimately be legally binding for real change to come about.

部分民眾認為必須交由法律來約束才能迎來真正的改變。

Such measures could have great economic benefit --including one report suggesting that gender parity could add $550 billion to Japan's GDP.

這些措施可以帶來巨大的經濟效益，甚至有份報告指出性別平等可以增加日本 500 億的國內生產總值。

Isabel Reynolds: I don't think we're going see a transformation overnight, or in the next couple of years.

Isabel Reynolds：我不認為在一夕之間或短短幾年就能發生改變。

These people are obviously at the bottom of the ladder in the corporate world, so they're not going to be the ones deciding how the corporate culture works for some time.

這些人明顯處在企業金字塔的底端。所以短期內，他們不會是決定企業文化與風氣的人。