Hope in Despair? The Gender Gap in the Legal Profession in Japan (Vol. 56.2)

While the gender gap in the legal profession is not unique to Japan, the gender gap in numbers (i.e., the gap in the number of male and female lawyers) seems to be being overcome in many jurisdictions. In the case of Japan, however, the situation is desperate: women make up only 27.2% of judges, 26.0% of prosecutors, and 19.3% of lawyers. In addition, a significant gender gap in practice situations, including income and areas of work, has been recognized in past empirical surveys. This Article examines the latest dataset of the Japan Federation Bar Association (JFBA) Survey on the Economic Foundations of Lawyers’ Practice conducted in 2020 and analyzes whether the situation has improved compared to the JFBA Survey in 2010. The data analysis shows that the gender gap has narrowed compared to ten years ago. However, there are still many practice areas where male lawyers are dominant, and the work-life balance burden faced by women lawyers is much greater than that of men. For the Japanese bar community to truly serve the public interest, it is essential to promote gender equality within the community, and because of the huge difference in numbers, the JFBA must make conscious policy efforts to address this issue.

This Article was originally presented at the Clarke Symposium “Gender Equality in
the Legal Profession in East Asia: Empirical Perspectives,” held on April 10, 2023. I would
like to thank Professor Yun-chien Chang for his kind invitation to the Symposium. I would
like to extend my thanks to the Japan Federation Bar Association for allowing me to analyze
the dataset of the JFBA Survey in 2020 and present a paper. I would also like to express my
sincere gratitude to the editors of the Law Journal for their support in helping me to publish
my Article. Needless to say, all errors are my responsibility