Got a boyfriend? Underwear colour? Improper questions Japan’s young women job-hunters face

One in three female students report being sexually harassed while applying for jobs in Japan’s male-dominated corporate world

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Japanese university students take part in a job recruitment event in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 17 Mar 2025Updated: 6:29am, 19 Mar 2025

Akiko has never had to deflect unwarranted questions or politely decline requests to go drinking with a recruiter from a company that she is applying to join – but she knows young Japanese women who have had to endure innuendo-laden questions in interviews.

“I’m fortunate and perhaps it is because I have been applying to international companies, but some students I know have told me stories that I at first thought were jokes,” said Akiko, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym as she was waiting to hear back from a potential employer about a job.

Interviewers asked “surprisingly often” whether an applicant had a boyfriend or if she was planning to get married, Akiko said.

And while those questions can make a job applicant in her early twenties uncomfortable, young women have detailed even more unpleasant experiences on social media.

Some say interviewers have asked them how often their boyfriend stays at their flat, while others report being asked the colour of their underwear.

Not infrequently, applicants have been invited to go out for dinner or drinks with an interviewer. Many say they fear refusing such an invitation would jeopardise their chances of getting the position.