Efforts are underway to foster female enterprise in Japan. Women have been called the untapped resource that can fire up Japan's economic revitalization. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Monetary Fund both say the country needs to bring more women into the workforce.

Working at a Japanese company can mean putting in hour after hour of overtime. But many young workers are starting to prioritize their hours outside the office. The annual job hunting season, when most Japanese companies hold interviews, has begun. Around the country, senior college students are lining up at career fairs dressed in simple business attire known as "recruit suits."