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Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Phoebe Amaroso.

Today, Japan's efforts to raise the number of female leaders, as the country lags behind in global gender gap rankings.

There are really, really interesting getting good female founders or minority founders,

but they may not get the same access to capital in the same way as male founders do.

We take a look at an initiative aiming to build a community of women founders.

So we wanted to create somewhere very, very safe for female entrepreneurs in Japan.

The executive vice president of Japan's most prestigious educational institution

shares how it's trying to shake off its men-only image.

Let's say 10 years ago, we really can't talk about gender on this campus.

And we hear from one of Japan's youngest female politicians on how the country needs more women

in politics.

You know, half the time when I'm walking in the parliament, I get stopped by the guards

because they think I'm an intern or they think that I'm not an MP. That's all coming up in today's

Business Daily. I'm at Her Rise, a startup event. It's a collaboration between Shibuya Ward in

Central Tokyo and Startup Lady, an

organization that supports women entrepreneurs. Japanese and non-Japanese female founders have gathered

here today to share advice and experiences. Today's topic, fundraising. Actually, I want to learn about

basic knowledge about fundraising

and because I just started trying to make my own restaurant in Shibuya.

I wanted to be involved in the women ecosystem in Japan

because, I mean, we don't really have so many entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs.

...