Winding Paths to Success

12Resilience

Yasuko Gotoh, who started her career in 1980 as the first female career bureaucrat recruited by what was then the Ministry of Transport, is a front‐row witness to how Japanese society's attitude toward working women has evolved over the last four‐plus decades. It has been a 180‐degree transition from women being second‐class citizens at the workplace to being heralded as symbols of diversity and, therefore, progressiveness.

Still, the journey toward gender equity at the workplace is far from complete. As I argue in my column, “Japanese Businesswomen Need More Than a Place at the Table,” increasing women's presence in senior positions can be interpreted by corporations as an exercise in compliance to satisfy the mere optics of diversity.

That said, the Japan Inc. of 2023, in both its public and private sectors, is a much friendlier place than it was when the Equal Employment Opportunity Act was first enacted in 1985. In these days, Gotoh and her female colleagues at the Ministry had to double as office waitresses, preparing tea in the morning and pouring alcohol at night.

But the turnaround of the external environment alone does not explain Gotoh's eventual success in honing her career in the tourism industry. Against considerable headwinds, she demonstrated resilience over the years—never quitting work and always being open to the next opportunity.

The sources of her resilience can be summarized in two parts. One is her innate openness to trust those around her—her ...