Abstract
Purpose – This review paper aims to critically examine the discourse on gender equality in Japan, focusing on its socio-cultural, economic and political dimensions. By synthesising existing literature, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and barriers that influence the gender equality debate in Japan, while identifying gaps and opportunities for future research and specifying where practice can be recoupled to policy. Design/methodology/approach – An integrative literature review was conducted across four key institutional domains – markets, government/public sector, families and education – analysed at the macro, meso and micro levels. The synthesis is integrative rather than exhaustive, prioritising analytic coverage over completeness. Findings – The dynamic relationship between institutional pressures and cultural norms reinforces traditional gender roles across domains. While global pressures and progressive policies have catalysed some change, entrenched routines and weak enforcement often constrain substantive transformation. Decoupling is concentrated at two interfaces: macro to meso (policy to organisation) and meso to micro (organisation to household). Originality/value – This study integrates institutional multiplicity with the three-cycle social innovation lens to demonstrate how Japan’s competing logics sustain policy–practice decoupling and to identify where recoupling can begin. It specifies two actionable interfaces (macro to meso and meso to micro), aligns practical levers to each and proposes illustrative indicators that make early recoupling observable for internal monitoring and public reporting, providing usable guidance for policymakers and organisations.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
12-15-2025
Volume
25
Issue
8
Publication Title
Corporate Governance
Publisher
Emerald
School
School of Business and Law
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
260
Last Page
285
Comments
Eweje, G., Toyosaki, H., Kobayashi, K., Chen, S. M., & Hosoda, M. (2025). Gender equality discourse: A Japanese context. Corporate Governance, 25(8), 260–285. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-11-2024-0623