Japan's postwar transformation has been hailed as nothing short of a miracle. Yet, in the midst of massive social, economic, political, and cultural change, gender inequality persists at remarkably high levels. The paradox of Japan's progress against the persistence of gender inequality raises the question of why women remain a half-step behind men, more than a half century after women were granted equal rights under the postwar constitution.

This question has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Anthropologists observe gender roles in Japanese culture, while economists...