Japan's Act on Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (女性活躍推進法) — Mandatory Disclosure, Action Plans and Eruboshi Certification, 2016/2022

Japan's Act on Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (女性活躍推進法), administered by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, took effect on 1 April 2016 to address women's concentration in non-regular, lower-paid work and their underrepresentation in management.

Covered employers (initially 301+ regular employees, extended to 101+ from April 2022) must analyse gender workforce data across five metrics (recruitment rate, continuation rate, working hours, share of women in management, flexible-work arrangements), set numerical targets, publish an action plan, and report data on the MHLW's public database. Companies meeting at least two of five criteria can earn 'Eruboshi' certification (one to three stars); those meeting all five earn 'Platinum Eruboshi,' which brings preferential treatment in government procurement.

As of September 2022, 1,905 companies held Eruboshi certification and 29 held Platinum Eruboshi. Despite this, only 12.9% of managers in Japan were women in 2022, and 53.1% of female workers remained in non-regular employment versus 22.5% of male workers; Japan ranked 125th of 146 countries on the WEF Global Gender Gap Index in 2023, improving to 118th in 2024.

The disclosure-and-certification regime has generated transparency and broad institutional participation, but does not directly mandate pay equity or quotas, and structural labour-market and social barriers to women's career advancement remain largely unresolved.