ジム：日本の女性の地位は本当に低いですね。
木村：本当にそうですね。女性が男性と肩を並べて仕事ができる日は来るのでしょうか。
Kata wo naraberu
Jimu: Nihon nojosei no chii wa hontoo ni hikui desu ne.
Kimura: Hontoo ni soo desu ne. Josei ga dansei to kata wo narabete shigoto ga dekiru hi wa kuru no deshoo ka.
Jim: Women in Japan have a very low status, don't they?
Kimura: Yes, they really do. I wonder whether the day will ever come when women can work on a level with men.
Kata wo naraberu originally refers to two people walking side by side, or literally, shoulder to shoulder. From there it has come to mean holding equal power, being on a level, or on an equal footing.
Yesterday I gave a lecture, which was attended by representatives from 30 Japanese universities and about 150 foreign student representatives.
One student asked, "Are Japanese women really aware of how low their status in society is?"
So we asked Japanese female university students in the room what they thought. Only a mere 1% answered that they thought the status of women was lower than that of men.
Next, I asked all of the people who came from universities where the chancellor was a woman to raise their hands. There were only two: one from Tsuda College and one from another all-female university. There was a spontaneous burst of laughter from the audience. Daigaku de josei ga dansei to kata wo narabete takai chit ni tsuku no wa, go-juu nen wa saki daroo (I expect it will be at least another 50 years before women reach the position of higher status that men enjoy at universities).
The position of foreign laborers is often compared to that of women in Japanese society, in that they both represent minority groups.
When we look at the positions foreigners occupy in Japanese society we see that they fall roughly into two groups.
In industry, for example, there are those whose role is to help their company carry on business with companies overseas, and who are treated as executives. Kono hitotachi wa nihon-jin shain to kata wo narabete hataraite iru (These people work on an equal footing with Japanese employees).
Then there are others who work for smaller companies or for subcontractors, who are taken on as part of a cheap manual labor force.
They are paid at a much lower rate than their Japanese counterparts, and Tatoe nan-nen hataraite mo, nihon-jin to kata wo narabete hatarakeru yd ni wa naranai (No matter how many years they work, they will never be able to work on a level with the Japanese). Foreigners and women - both are minority groups in Japan.