Several weeks ago the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, hung around briefly after the IMF finished up its annual meeting — which happened to be in Tokyo this year — and appeared on a special hourlong edition of NHK's in-depth news show "Closeup Gendai." The topic was working women as a factor in Japan's economic recovery. Lagarde said more women in the workforce would "create more consumption" and stimulate demand, thus growing the economy. This proposal was so elementary that it seemed a waste to have the leader of one of the world's biggest financial organs deliver it, but Lagarde's purpose for being on the program was probably more symbolic than anything else.

At the meeting, the IMF presented a paper on Japan's neglected female workers, and Lagarde said she has communicated with many Japanese women who "express frustration" about the "hurdles" that make it difficult for them to be taken seriously as management material.

As it stands, only about 10 percent of management-level workers and company executives in Japan are women, while the portion in the United States is 40 percent and between 30 percent and 40 percent in the European Union. The main problem is that eternal bugbear, the work-family balance, characterized by the fact that 60 percent of Japanese married women quit their jobs when they have their first child and never reenter the workforce as regular employees. The IMF estimates a 4 percent increase in Japan's GDP if these women continued working. "Then Japan could reimburse its national debt," Lagarde said confidently.