Tomoko Horino was born in 1923, the same year as The Great Kanto Earthquake, and married a local official young. She had envisioned a life as a housewife but quickly had to change her mind when her husband started squandering their money.
– It was a mistake to marry my husband, she says.
– He grew up in a very rich family and didn’t care how they spent their money. He invited his colleagues to dinner on the day he received his salary and used it all up.
The beauty advisor: “I use make-up every day”
To make ends meet, she started assembling gift boxes at a local company, but it was in the beauty industry that she found her great passion: cosmetics.
– I use make-up every day, she says.
According to the company that Tomoko works for, her total earnings have amounted to more than 125 million yen (8.7 million Swedish kronor). And she’s still hitting her sales goals—at 100 years old.
More women in Japan’s working life
Japan has historically struggled with negative gender attitudes that have meant getting women into the workforce. In 2013, the country’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the work to get more women into Japan’s workforce “one of the country’s biggest concerns.” The goal was to create “a society where women shine”.
Since then, the number of employed women has increased noticeably and in the country latest measurement published in October 2023 they exceeded 30 million, just over half of all women.
– In the past, women were only given an assistant position below men, says Tomoko,
– The world has become a much better place now.