#anna usui

By Anna Usui

Photography by Mayumi Hosokura

In Japan, “feminism” has become an increasingly common buzzword. But how many Japanese people truly understand the meaning of this word? And how many have seriously thought about gender inequality? In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, Japan ranked 121st out of 153 countries–lower than its neighbors China (106th) and South Korea (108th). Within the four key areas of economy, politics, education, and health that the index measures, Japan ranks 115th in economics, and a disappointingly low 144th in politics.

Japan has a long way to go to achieve gender equality, but some people have been speaking out. One of these people is Rina Ishii, CEO of BLAST inc. and founder of period product company Nagi. I spoke to Ishii about her thoughts on the gender gap in Japan through her experience in media management and branding.

The story of women’s empowerment brands BLAST and Nagi

ーーWhen did you become aware of gender inequality?

Rina Ishii: I was raised in a predominantly female household with my mom, dad, and sister. My dad did about 70% of the housework and my parents never forced me to act “feminine.” I grew up hearing about female independence from my mom. I also watched “Sex and the City” and admired career women like Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. My middle and high school were all-girls’ schools, so I don’t think I had much opportunity to truly experience gender disparity or oppression.

But looking through magazines, there were so many articles that focused on the male gaze. It was when I started hunting for jobs that I realized something was very wrong; I was surprised to learn that some companies require uniforms only for women. I really became aware of the gender gap when I entered the workforce. I was born and raised in Japan, and I had never doubted that I was living in a developed nation. Yet, we were closer to the bottom than the top when it came to the gender gap. I was shocked to learn that the inequality between men and women was so bad.

ーーWhy did you decide to quit your first job after graduation to start BLAST and Nagi?

Ishii: The first company I joined did web marketing and published books about Instagram marketing. When it comes to social media, the West is more advanced, so I would look at a lot of Western influencers. I saw that they were all speaking out about gender issues, and also the extent to which #MeToo had spread.

In Japan, it’s rare to speak up about these issues and there aren’t many opportunities to learn about them. That’s why I launched BLAST, a media outlet that I imagined as the Japanese version of American women’s empowerment media outlet Refinery 29. But it took longer than I imagined for a media outlet about feminism and empowerment to take off; our business is a startup with limited resources. Since that was the case, we decided to first focus on businesses that support women through tangible means, so we launched Nagi.

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