Thank you for a great article. Japan can definitely be very sexist and when you see the statistics is it brutal. The deliberate secret changing of the test scores for medical school to accept more men over women was insane, to cite just one example. On an individual level I feel it is a bit more complicated. Lots of the most stringent enforcers of Japanese cultural norms are women, I would say in my personal experience much more than men. Also the traditional structure of work and family favors men in obvious ways but so many men are slaves to their company for their entire adult lives. They work 60, 70, 80+ hours a week for literally 50 years. They barely meet their wives and children and don't really get to enjoy any personal time or the fruits of their labor. I don't really envy them at all.