Letter from Japan: Backbone of a Nation

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Friday, Apr. 13, 2001 It is that time of year in Japan when the mind can only think beautiful thoughts. The spring sky is crisp and blue. The cherry blossoms have come and gone with all their magnificent beauty.

So is it any wonder that I'm reminded of perhaps Japan's greatest asset: its women. Don't get me wrong! I love women from all cultures. My wife is British and she is very beautiful and I love her very much. However, I have a special fondness for the spirit and beauty of Japanese women.

Today, for example, my department is moving office. Am I lifting a finger? No way! Without complaint, my staff is busy packing boxes, laughing and having an absolutely wonderful time executing a mundane task. I'm sure that if I asked to help they wouldn't know what to do. I'm not expected to work, and if I did, it would make everyone uncomfortable. So I'm pretending to be busy while I write this column and then I hope to slip away for an Easter weekend. My staff, meanwhile, will probably spend much of the weekend moving the office. And did I tell you about how they pack? The precision and care borders on art.

Japanese women, particularly during spring, are quite a sight. The winter finery melts away into a burst of fresh, new fashion that warms the heart of the world's leading designers -- Japan is a key export market. It's not that Japanese women are drop-dead beautiful. With their boyish physiques, snaggleteeth and protruding ears, they rarely end up as uber-models or in People magazine's "Most Beautiful" issue.

Still there is something. Perhaps it is the grace and elegance in which they carry themselves. Or perhaps it's the exquisite care they take in putting on makeup or the latest designer dress. Perhaps it's the extraordinary politeness they extend to all strangers. For as long as foreigners have visited Japan, the spell Japanese women have cast on them has remained unbroken.

All this, though, is the world of geisha cliché. True, but cliché. The women of Japan are a lot more than cute faces who know how to dress well. Spend any time here and you quickly come to realize that they are the backbone of this culture. They work harder, are more creative, more determined, and more focused than their male brethren. At my company, women make up the majority of positions. Like most firms in Japan, they hold few senior positions, and all of the clerical slots. While very well paid by Japanese standards, they do not command the big salaries of the men they work for. Yet it is the assistants and back-office staff that make this company run. I'm sure this is true in almost every Japanese company as well.

At home, women also dominate. They raise children with a sensitivity, patience and care that simply astounds me. They are expected to not just organize a household, but run the finances, control the social calendar, and participate in community responsibilities. All this, while their husbands and boyfriends refine their golf swing, visit their favorite hostess bar, or pretend to look busy at work until late in the evening.

Life for a woman in this country is not easy. One can still see the old hunched- back women crippled from a lifetime of stooping to grow rice, or clean house. Yet a woman's life has its rewards, I'm told. Officially, they command no power or prestige. Unofficially, they control everything. Behind that polite smile is a steely determination developed from centuries of flirtatious subjugation. And they are a strong-willed lot, and almost always get what they want.

With the men of Japan completely incapable of fixing the nation's woes, perhaps it is time for the women to take over. However, there is one barrier to this: Japanese women are far too smart to actually want to do this.