Fashion Friday: Can Japan become a diversity-welcome society?

The opening ceremony of the Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 finally took place on July 23rd 2021. Although diversity is one of the core values of the Olympics, Japan has lagged far behind other countries in terms of diversity including gender equality. According to Euromonitor International’s Economies and Consumers data, the income gap between male and female consumers in Japan was 33% in 2020. Inequality is evident not only in income but also in the division of responsibilities within the home and childcare tasks. In light of COVID-19, the burden on working women with families became even heavier, and when the schools were closed in spring 2020, a not inconsiderable number of women had to leave their jobs to take care of children. However, after the sexist comment made by the former Olympics committee chief executive was rebuked by global society, consumers in Japan became increasingly aware of the issue, and companies have started to react quickly to those consumers voices.