437,500USD for a man. 18,750USD for a woman.

Can you guess what that title indicates? This is an incentive bonus for the Soccer World Cup Victory which is stipulated by the Japan Football Association (The JFA). If the men's national team wins the World Cup, each member can receive 35 millions JPY (437,500USD. 1USD=80JPY). On the other hand, for the women's national team, each member can receive only 1.5 millions JPY (18,750USD). When this fact was widely reported, immediately after Nadeshiko Japan won the victory at the Women's Soccer World Cup in Germany, a lot of people questioned the huge difference between men and women, insisting that 1.5 millions JPY was too low whatever reason. In response to this, it's reported that the JFA is considering increasing the incentive bonus to 5 millions JPY (62,500USD).

Other than that, it's been widely reported how difficult it is for women to make a living as soccer players in Japan. In the national team which accomplished a great achievement at the right time and lifted a nation rocked by the disaster, there are only five "professional" players among 16 members who belong to club teams in Japan (Some belong to club teams in other countries). Others are amateur players. Although some of them are allowed to devote themselves to play soccer with a salary, many of them work during the daytime and practice playing soccer in the evening after work.

Speaking of women's club teams in Japan, some reports on the team "TEPCO Mareeze" are still fresh in my mind. The team was forced to break up by the nuclear disaster because it was run by TEPCO, which has been struggling to get the crippled nuclear power plant back under control. I've heard that the team was based in an area where the crippled plant is located, and many of the term members worked for the plant during the daytime (All the members were employees of TEPCO). As I wrote in the last post, the victory at the Women's Soccer World Cup inspires women to be persistent in what they want to do and live up to their dreams even if their goals aren't traditionally associated with women. Then, it will widely open the door for women in many fields. To support both women's soccer players and women who are struggling in other fields, I want to go to watch a regular women's soccer game.