Three Cheers for Abe's High-Tech CLT Wooden Arrow: The Future of Japanese Construction

Extract

The attached August 7 Bloomberg article, “Japanese Women Armed With Chainsaws Head to the Hills Under Abe's Plan”, legitimately lauds this Abe initiative that promotes women and Japanese forestry, especially high-tech and environmentally friendly forestry. The article reports that 3000 women are entering the wood business in a variety of capacities, including as lumberjacks. Further expanding women's opportunities in non-traditional roles is a no-brainer in any context, but especially in Japan. Japanese women continue to make inroads in construction, higher education and other areas. But their below 70% rate of employment, between 25 and 54 years of age, is lowest among the world's wealthiest countries, and they tend to be concentrated in gendered occupations and held back from managerial positions. The sight of women wielding chain saws might further cut through deeply entrenched stereotypes in the Diet, Keidanren, small business and other men-dense (dense-men?) venues. It may also help keep younger women in the 896 cities, towns and villages that face “extinction” by 2040 due to the continuing flight of young women to Tokyo and the other large city-regions.