NEW DELHI ¨C Reiko Abe became a civil engineer, but she couldn¡¯t find a job in Japan. An ancient Shinto superstition, made part of the national labor law, held that if a woman entered a tunnel under construction, she would anger the jealous mountain goddess and cause worker accidents.
Two decades later, Abe has become the face of Japan¡¯s global engagement as it seeks to overcome the image of an economic laggard and a wasteland for career women. Television ads featuring her have run on CNN and the BBC. She¡¯s been lauded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for showcasing the nation¡¯s strengths abroad and symbolizing why it needs to promote more women in a workforce where less than 5 percent of managers are female.
The irony? Abe, 51, had to leave Japan.
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