[Wasabista]

Banks in Japan are indeed primitive compared to most advanced countries. At least judging by the HOUR it took me to open a bank account at Mizuho, and the lack of 24-hour ATMs (at least where I live).

As for women in Japan, this is a big topic and I'm not really sure it's women who are being discriminated against. What is clear is that Japan is blessed with a large population of educated and talented women, whose abilities are wasted because they are not finding their way into jobs where they can put those talents to use. This is changing but, as so often in Japan, slowly.