Madonna Lawmaker Targets Absurdities for Women in Japan

Yukari Sato, one of Japan’s few female lawmakers, says changes in working conditions for women must accompany economic stimulus programs for the country to break out of a 15-year deflationary spiral.

Flexible working hours, revision of spouse tax deduction rules and better access to childcare are areas that need reform, said Sato, who served as chief economist at Credit Suisse Group AG before becoming a legislator in a nation that ranks behind Saudi Arabia in the proportion of women in parliament. The measures could help address a labor shortage that Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. called an Achilles heel for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s revival program.