Japan may need quotas to get more women working

During dinner in a sushi restaurant the other day, I asked the chef behind the counter why sushi is a man's world.

The chef gave me a haughty look and said, "If a female trainee chef worked together with me, I would be supportive. But if she were the head chef, I would quit."

Sushi chefs are called "stage performers", with customers as the audience. Every movement, from how the chef maneuvers his knife or rolls a warm rice ball by hand, is on show. To this chef, and many like him, the sushi counter is a stage exclusively for men.