INTERVIEW: Hiroshima Governor Urges Women-Empowering Workplaces in Local Areas

Tokyo, March 4 (Jiji Press)--Hiroshima Governor Mika Yokota has underlined the need for local communities to develop "workplaces where women can fully demonstrate their abilities" to address the issue of an increasing number of young women in the countryside moving to urban areas in recent years.

The growing rural-to-urban migration comes apparently because women cannot find jobs they want in regional areas or they feel dissatisfied with traditional notions about gender roles in local communities, such as the belief that "men belong at work, and women belong at home."

In an interview with Jiji Press ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday, Yokota said: "Stereotyped perceptions of gender roles take root early in life when people are raised hearing words like 'feminine' or 'masculine.' I hope local companies will change their mind-set so that everyone can fully demonstrate their potential."

As an immediate step that can be taken, Yokota cited allowing women to take part in ceremonies such as ribbon-cutting events, many of which are currently attended by only men. "It is important to show that both men and women are actively playing their roles," she said.

Yokota, 54, who became governor of the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima last November, is the eighth female governor in the country on record and the third currently serving in office.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]