Confident in our future selves

I recently joined an inspiring JWIBA International Women’s Day Celebration Workshop, titled “Confident in Your Future”, beautifully facilitated by Kristy Ishii.

The room was full. Not just in numbers, but in energy. Women from different backgrounds and stages of life came together, all carrying the same quiet question: What’s next for me? Some were looking to re-enter the workforce after a pause. Others were ready for a renewed direction, a career shift, or simply fresh inspiration. The atmosphere was open, supportive, and deeply motivating.

Kristy created a space where reflection and possibility could coexist. This was not about abstract encouragement, but about helping women reconnect with their strengths, their experience, and their confidence. You could feel the collective momentum building as conversations unfolded, ideas were shared, and perspectives shifted. It was one of those rare events where people leave standing a little taller than when they arrived.

What struck me most was how strongly this workshop connects to a much bigger conversation in Japan.

For years, the Japanese government has been trying to incentivize women to stay in the workforce after childbirth. Policies, targets, and initiatives have been introduced to address the so-called “M-shaped curve” of women’s employment, where many leave work during child-rearing years and struggle to return. On paper, the intention is clear. In practice, the challenge has always been how to translate policy into lived reality.

This workshop felt like a glimpse of what that translation can look like.

What I saw in the room were women actively reclaiming their professional identities, not because they were told they should, but because they were reminded they could. Confidence does not come from policy alone. It comes from community, role models, encouragement, and safe spaces to imagine a future that works alongside family life, not in opposition to it.

Events like this matter because they operate at the human level. They acknowledge that returning to work or changing direction after childbirth is not just a logistical challenge, but an emotional one. Confidence can fade. Networks can shrink. Self-doubt can creep in. Workshops like “Confident in Your Future” help rebuild what time and circumstance may have eroded.

It was genuinely uplifting to be there, surrounded by amazing women supporting one another, asking honest questions, and daring to think differently about their careers. The inspiration in the room was palpable.

If Japan’s long-term goal is to create a society where women can sustain meaningful careers across all life stages, then this is what progress looks like. Not just incentives and targets, but moments that reconnect women with their own sense of possibility.

I left feeling grateful, energized, and hopeful. Hopeful because the talent, ambition, and resilience are already there. Workshops like this simply help bring them back into focus.

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