????知名企業家、風險投資人兼公共政策顧問齋藤浩幸說，盡管所謂的“鈦天花板”阻礙著女性，但女性創辦的科技創業公司正在持續增多。作為一名導師和金融家，他更喜歡資助日本女性（而不是日本男性）經營的初創公司。

????齋藤浩幸目前正在押注于eco+waza網站現年33歲的創始人大塚玲奈, 它可以說是致力于日本的可持續生活方式理念及相關產品的一個精選版亞馬遜和雜志。意識到自己如果想要個小孩或者工作時間更加靈活的話，最好還是能夠自己掌握時間，于是大塚玲奈離開了她以前任職的出版公司Recruit。日本的勞動規則根本無法滿足有家庭的女性（或男性）的需求和要求。大塚玲奈說：“工作時間很長，太多的時間浪費在上下班的路上，我們還要受到無止境而且無價值的會議的折磨?！?0歲以前，她都生活在美國。

????她說，日本政府向女性和準初創公司提供的待遇很有幫助，但她認為，獲得每筆補助金在官僚手續上所要付出的努力使得這些補助幾乎不值一提。

????至于三年產假的承諾，她認為這將事與愿違。她說：“真的休完三年產假后，是很難重返工作的。這項政策可能會適得其反?！?/p>

????現年35歲的谷崎淑最初從事金融行業，但她發現這個行業嚴格的等級制度令人窒息。于是在四年前辭去了自己在瑞穗證券（Mizuho Securities）前途光明但很吃力的分析師工作，轉而創辦了自己的公司。她現在運營兩家依托于網絡的公司，一家向金融服務行業提供項目管理服務，另一家是叫做AQUSH ExchangeCorporation的社會貸款風投公司。

????谷崎淑說：“我在證券公司工作的時候，工作壓力遠遠超過了我的承受能力，因為作為一名女性，我被分配到一些后勤任務——甚至沏茶！而同時還同樣要和男同事一樣努力做前端的工作?！彼a充說，日本十年前的廣告狂人式的日子正在迅速消失，至少在東京是如此。她說：“這更像是由于政治問題，而不是性別歧視的原因，于是我辭職了?！?/p>

????谷崎淑與大塚玲奈的看法相同——認為向女性企業家提供額外支持是不錯，但她表示，對于科技初創公司而言，2萬美元左右的個體企業補助還是不夠?！霸谌毡荆_發人員和網絡工程師的勞動成本都很昂貴，這項補助對于諸如咖啡館等非常小的企業而言可能有用，但對于科技創業者而言就沒有那么有幫助了?！?/p>

????她表示，私人風險投資人是提供資金和向女性企業家開放的一個更好的選擇。然而，谷崎淑告誡說，日本女性可能會成為她們自己最大的敵人。她解釋說，日本存在許多均等的機會，“但根據我的經驗來看，日本女性并不希望承擔風險。整體而言，她們不想承擔責任。她們不那么有抱負，不太愿意作出犧牲。基本上，大多數日本女性缺乏勇氣?！?/p>

????她指出，讓人遺憾的是，即便在創業界里，她也很難遇到女性高管，谷崎淑不知道日本女性甘冒風險的意愿究竟有多強烈。“恐怕我得贊同Facebook首席運營官謝麗爾?桑德伯格的看法。她認為女性不想坐在桌旁，就是這么簡單 ”（財富中文網）

????譯者：iDo98????

????Tech startups launched by women, however, are on the rise, despite the so-called "titanium ceiling" obstructing them, says William Saito, a renowned entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and public policy consultant. As a mentor and financier, he has a penchant for backing Japanese women-run startups over their male counterparts.

????Saito is betting on Reina Otsuka, 33, founder of Eco+Waza, a sort of a curated Amazon and magazine for sustainable lifestyle ideas and products from Japan. Otsuka left her previous employer Recruit, a publishing company, knowing that if she did want a child or more flexible hours, it would be better to do so on her own terms. Japanese working practices simply don't cater to women (or men) with families. "The hours are long with too much time wasted commuting, and we are plagued with endless, useless meetings," says Otsuka, who lived in the U.S. until she was 10 years old.

????The new government deal offered to women and would-be startups is helpful, she says, but she thinks the bureaucratic efforts required for each grant make them hardly worth the effort.

????As for the promise of three years of maternity leave, she feels this will be self-defeating. "It's too hard to come back to work after all that time. The policy could backfire," she says.

????Shuku Tanizaki, 35, started out in finance, but she found the industry's strict hierarchy stifling and left her high-flying but demanding job as an analyst at Mizuho Securities to launch her own company four years ago. She now runs two web-based outfits, one offering project management services to the financial services industry, the other a social lending venture company called AQUSH ExchangeCorporation.

????"When I worked for a securities firm, I was pushed way beyond my capacity because as a woman I was assigned back-office tasks -- even making tea! -- and at the same time working in a front-end role equally as hard as men," Tanizaki says, adding that Japan's Mad Men days of a decade ago are fading fast, in Tokyo at least. "It was more for political issues, not sexist reasons, I quit," she says.

????Tanizaki agrees with Otsuka, arguing that additional support for women entrepreneurs is good, but says that the individual business grants, at around $20,000, are inadequate for tech startups. "Developers and web engineers are expensive in Japan. The grants could be useful for very small ventures such as cafes, not so much for tech entrepreneurs."

????Private venture capitalists, she says, are a better bet for funding and open to women entrepreneurs. However, Tanizaki warns, women in Japan could be their own worst enemy. There are equal opportunities in Japan, she explains, "but in my experience, women don't want to take risks, they don't want, on the whole, to take responsibility, they are less ambitious, less willing to sacrifice. Basically, most Japanese women lack courage."

????Pointing out the shame that, even in the startup world, she scarcely meets female executives, Tanizaki wonders how far women in Japan are willing to stick their necks out. "I'm afraid I agree with Facebook (FB) COO Sheryl Sandberg that women don't want to sit at the table. It's as simple as that."????