Comics: Hiring married women

I had a classmate in US who used to work at an automobile company but quit her job to pursue illustration. She was also divorced. Upon graduation, she told me that she did not want to return to Japan because she would be "too old" to get hired and cannot have a career in the new line. I remember she was only in her early 30s and I did not understand why. I, on the other hand, was keen to go Japan to work one day.

Years passed and I eventually gotten my wish to go Japan. Not to work, but to study. I was glad that I was studying so I had time to make new friends and do sight-seeing for a few years. I later know about the working condition and female discrimination that made me stop day dreaming about working there. Despite Abe's urge for companies to employ more women, employers tend not to because they are afraid that the female employee will quit when she has a baby, which sadly happens in most cases. It could be because their parents stay too far and are unable to help look after their grandchild, or the lack of child care facilities. But I think the company policy that demands long working hours inside the office is to be blame. Of course, not all women want to be career women. There are still many Japanese women who want to be just a housewife and happy to depend on her husband.

PS. Some new fast-growing Japanese companies might not be discriminative due to manpower shortage and lack of an established work and employment culture. (In case any ladies there are thinking of working in Japan)