The Japanese Equal Employment Opportunity Law of 1985, effective in April 1986, prohibits gender discrimination with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion, training, and job assignment. The author describes the law and assesses its probable impact on the economic opportunities of Japanese women. She argues that two aspects of Japan's socioeconomic environment—the lifetime employment system used by large Japanese private firms, and the labor supply pattern of Japanese women—make it unlikely that the law will have a large impact on the economic status of women in Japan.
Education and Marriage Decisions of Japanese Women and the Role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act