Japan firms begin challenge of boosting women in workplace

TOKYO: As Japan on Friday marked the 30th anniversary of a law to ban discrimination against women in the workplace, a new law went into effect forcing companies for the first time to create concrete plans and publicly document their efforts on the issue.

Under the new law, companies with more than 301 employees are obliged to draw up action plans with numerical targets to promote women, including goals for female new hires and putting women in managerial posts.