improvement of work environment necessary for maternity protection.

The above-mentioned two largest national unions have also established a women's department (or women and youth department) through which they are tackling women workers' problems. Though measures taken in this respect by the two unions are more or less similar, main activities are as follows:

(a) In order to eliminate sex discrimination in wages, which has been rationalized by the seniority wage system or by the introduction of service allowance or pay according to function, the unions demanded—as part of their spring offensive-elimination of differences between men and women in regard to starting salary and wage progression.

(b) They consider that, owing to the rapid progress of technological innovations which have introduced widespread simple and repetitive labor of high intensity, the number of women workers who suffer from lumbago or peculiar trouble in the neck, shoulder, and arms, or who suffer abnormal pregnancy or miscarriages has been increasing. In view of these facts, the unions are actively appealing to the Government to raise the minimum standards prescribed in the Labor Standards Law and to ratify I.L.O. Convention No. 103. They also endeavor to strengthen the drive in workplaces for the expansion of women's rights pertaining to maternity protection, including extention of maternity leave and initiation of pregnancy leave in case of illness caused by pregnancy.

(c) The need for day care centers for infants and school-age children is felt by working mothers more keenly than ever. Accordingly, the unions are making an appeal to the State and local governments to increase the number of such facilities more speedily.

(d) of all women workers, those who are union members are only about one-third, the majority remaining unorganized. This is due partly to the large number of women workers in part-time employment. Moreover, there are many who are indifferent to union activities.

In order to increase among women workers the understanding about their position in society, to cultivate among unorganized workers concern for union activities, and to create among organized females better awareness of their role as union members, the unions are

Name of organization Medical Association of Japanese Women.

carrying out educational and informational activities for unorganized workers. The unions also are carrying out various programs for the education and training of female members and leaders of the unions on such subjects as the present situation of women workers in the labor union, the key points of union activities, and the relationship between the labor union and the community.

(e) The unions have been making appeals to administrative agencies concerning improvement of maternity protection, implementation of equal pay, and promotion of adult education. Also, they are trying to reflect their views and demands in the policy of the Government by sending delegates to various governmental

commissions.

Women's Organizations

Most women's organizations in Japan organize

mainly housewives who have no job outside the home.

Their activities are usually related to the improvement of the status of women in general and consumers' problems, aiming at, for instance, better awareness of women as voters and promotion of the welfare of widowed women. Activities concerning women workers are carried out mainly by organizations of professional

women.

National organizations of professional women include those of doctors, hospital nurses, day nurses, teachers, and lawyers, who are organized in their respective groups. They are carrying out such activities as research, publication of material, and training for the purpose of improving their status and vocational capacities. Apart from these organizations of working women in the same profession, there is a group consisting mainly of those who are in administrative posts or who have a long professional career. This organization is working for the improvement of the status of women workers through activities to create favorable public opinion to eliminate discriminatory practices against women, such as the difference in the compulsory retirement age. For the purpose of creating a social environment helpful to women workers, it is tackling day care center and other problems.

The national organizations of professional women are listed below.

Qualification for membership Membership Woman doctor..

4,500

As stated previously, until the recent past the female work force in Japan consisted mainly of young unmarried women. However, in the process of the increase in the number of women workers, the proportion of single and young workers has declined and that of middle-aged or older married women has increased. Especially the recent increase in the number of female workers is due mostly to the increase in the number of middle-aged or older women who are married.

This qualitative change which has taken place in the female labor force has diversified women workers'

problems. Not only the problems relating to working conditions and maternity protection, but also problems such as those concerning expansion of employment opportunities, development and realization of vocational capacities, and harmonization of worklife with family life are now confronting women workers.

How To Make Better Use of Their Abilities

As a result of the increased employment opportunities for women and the prolongation of the aggregate length of their work career in their whole span of life, an increasing need is being felt for providing conditions in which women are able to realize their occupational capacities in full. Still, however, women workers are generally looked upon as a temporary and complementary work force. Actually, employment practices discriminatory against women still prevail in many enterprises where, for instance, women are denied access to training and opportunities for promotion, or rules and practices concerning compulsory retirement because of marriage or childbirth, and retirement age far lower than that for men are applied to women.

On the other hand, aspiration for vocational education and training is lacking among women themselves, and many of them are contented with their status as components of a complementary work force. Furthermore, women who have left their jobs have seldom had access to vocational education and training during the period of interruption. As a result, even though they have work experience in jobs which require professional knowledge and skills, the social changes and technological progress which have taken place during the period of the interruption often make it difficult for them to reenter the work force.

Though some local governments are carrying out special programs to secure workers for social welfare institutions-for example, training courses for house. wives who are qualified as hospital nurses or day nurses adequate facilities for reeducation and retraining of mature women to help them return to their former occupations are generally lacking. Vocational Counseling for Women

In the Japanese education system the term of compulsory education is 9 years, consisting of 6 years for primary school and 3 years for junior high school. One of the specified objectives of the junior high school education is to provide the students with the basic knowledge about occupations essential in society and an ability to choose their future courses suitable to their capacities and individuality. However, since 90 percent of these students go on to senior high school, it is said that the emphasis of education is placed on intellectual training to prepare them for the entrance examination, and that vocational counseling necessary for the formation of their attitudes toward their future worklife is not always adequate for both boys and girls.

For senior high school education also it is stipulated that one of its objectives is to let students determine their future courses suitable to their individuality. But in the vocational education conducted there, emphasis tends to be placed not on the individual characteristics and abilities of each girl but on the general characteristics of women who are expected to become housewives, reflecting a social climate in which women are regarded characteristically as staying at home for housework and child care. In fact, in senior high school a subject "general homemaking," intended to impart knowledge and skills necessary for home life and home management, is provided as a compulsory subject both in general courses and in vocational courses. Besides, courses concerning homemaking, such as those relating to domestic economy, food, and child care, are set up as vocational courses. Thus, homemaking education forms part of vocational education for girls. Moreover, it is said that in vocational counseling there is a strong tendency to favor occupations like nutritionist and day nurse, which are applicable to women's role as housewives.

The fact that homemaking education is conducted in junior and senior high school for girls and that

Vocational counseling is oriented to traditional women's occupations such as nutritionist and day nurse is attributable to a social climate prevailing in the country where it is believed that a woman's worklife should be a temporary one lasting only until the time of her marriage and that after marriage she should stay at home to be devoted to housework and child care. Moreover, girls are brought up in their homes under a discipline based on such concepts.

from lower secondary schools. The percentage of girls entering universities and junior colleges has risen to about 32 percent of girl graduates from upper secondary schools.

More than 60 percent of the students of upper secondary schools-the nucleus of the latter part of secondary education-attend schools which aim at giving a general education. Because of the rapid change in job specifications, human capacities developed through general courses do not wholly meet the re

One of the characteristics of Japanese vocational training is that public vocational training and vocational training within industry are considered equally important for the formation of skills. Consequently, various measures have been taken to promote both types of training. In public vocational training the main emphasis is placed on the training of workers to meet skill shortages in industry and on skill formation to enable displaced workers (those who have given up their jobs for new ones or those who have lost their jobs) to find reemployment. For vocational training within industry, guidance and assistance are provided in various ways. Financial assistance is provided, where necessary, for schemes carried out by groups of mediumor small-scale enterprises.

Present Situation of Education

As stated above, under the Japanese education system, compulsory education covers 9 years of primary school (6 years) and lower secondary school (3 years). A child age 6 enters a primary school and goes on to a lower secondary school at age 12 after finishing primary education. When the 3-year lower secondary school course is completed at 15, he or she may proceed to an upper secondary school. There are three kinds of upper secondary schools: those with general courses only, those with vocational courses only, and those combining general and vocational courses. All upper secondary schools are of 3 years duration (in the case of full-time schools), and graduates of an upper secondary school are qualified for admission to entrance examinations of a university or junior college.

In addition, higher technical schools (Koto Senmon Gakko) have been established for the purpose of instructing graduates of lower secondary schools in professional arts and skills for various jobs. A higher technical school, for instance, offers instruction in engineering or the merchant marine service. The time needed for completion of these curriculums is 5 years. The school attendance rate of Japanese children receiving 9 years of compulsory education is almost 100 percent-the highest in the world. The percentage of girls entering upper secondary has increased year after year, reaching, in 1974, 92 percent of girl graduates

results are inconsistencies between the aptitudes and capacities of students on the one hand, and the contents of school curriculums on the other. This has been pointed out by various authorities.

Public Vocational Training

Vocational training provided by public vocational training centers established by the State, prefectures, municipalities, and the Employment Promotion Projects Corporation is broadly classified into five kinds: basic training, occupational capacity redevelopment training, upgrading training, updating training, and instructor training.

The basic training is provided mainly for new graduates from junior high and senior high schools to develop their abilities as skilled workers by helping them acquire basic knowledge and skills necessary for an occupation. There are different types of training courses such as general courses, in which the training term is comparatively short (6 months for senior high school graduates and 1 year for junior high school graduates), and advanced courses, with a longer training term (1 year for senior high school graduates and 2 years for junior high school graduates). Also, since April 1975 special advanced courses of 2 years have been added for the training of senior high school graduates. The number of girls admitted into the basic training courses in April 1974 was 2,260, accounting for 7.3 percent of all entrants (31,015). The number of training trades is 55 for general courses and 81 for advanced courses. But girl trainees are rather concentrated in a number of trades such as sewing, office work, machine drafting, and cosmetology.

The occupational capacity redevelopment training is designed to help workers redevelop their abilities as skilled workers by letting them acquire knowledge and skills necessary for assuming a new job, taking into consideration their previous occupations. At the end of April 1974, the number of women enrolled in redevelopment courses was 4,819, or 35 percent of the total enrollment (13,813). There are many women trainees in the courses for office work, sewing, housekeeping, tracing, typewriting, and dressmaking.

The upgrading training is given to those who have already completed basic training, to help them acquire more advanced skills and knowledge and thereby