INTERVIEW: Expert Urges Deeper Reporting beyond “First Woman” Angle

Tokyo, March 18 (Jiji Press)–Whenever a woman rises to the top position in politics, business or other fields for the first time, Japanese news organizations have traditionally highlighted the development primarily through the lens of her being the “first woman.” Prominent recent examples include Sanae Takaichi, who was elected Japan’s first female prime minister last year, and Tomoko Yoshino, who in 2021 became the first woman to serve as president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, better known as Rengo. Kaori Hayashi, executive vice president of the University of Tokyo and a professor specializing in journalism studies, is herself a trailblazer as the first female president of the Japan Association for Media, Journalism and Communication Studies. While men are often judged by their credibility and accomplishments, women, no matter how senior their positions, are still sometimes expected to offer a distinctly female perspective. “I often find that exhausting,” Hayashi said candidly. At the same time, she stressed, “I want to acknowledge that being in a position described as the ‘first woman’ is something to be grateful for.” Since her grandmother’s generation, many women have continued to be denied opportunities. “We’re carrying the feelings of those who couldn’t get the jobs they wanted,” she added. Hayashi believes that “Japanese society has not yet achieved a level of gender equality in which being a woman is irrelevant.” Furthermore, she said that when the media report on someone becoming the first woman to hold a particular position, they should also examine the long-standing barriers that have made it difficult for women to enter and advance in that workplace, as well as the issues that remain unresolved. “It’s irresponsible to simply write about ‘the first’ and leave it at that,” she said. Hayashi added that when Takaichi became prime minister, few news reports explored wider gender-related issues, including the long-debated question of whether Japan should allow married couples to use separate surnames. Overseas, as more women have taken on leadership roles, attention has increasingly shifted away from their gender and toward their political views and individual positions, Hayashi noted. In many cases, the fact that they are women is no longer considered newsworthy in itself, she added. She predicted that the same change will gradually take place in Japan. “Once the number of women playing key roles in specific fields increases, this kind of reporting will decline gradually,” she said. Increasing the number of women in such positions is important, she continued, because it “helps people recognize that women, too, hold a wide range of views.” Using academia as an example, Hayashi also argued that “without diverse knowledge, we can’t create new knowledge.” She emphasized that for society to continue developing rather than stagnating, it “must draw on diverse talent across both gender and race.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]