[Wasabista]

The notion that women are "discriminated against," in Japan or any other advanced country, is problematic and misleading. It's a big topic and I'll just leave it at that for now. But, to answer the question about women in the workplace, I can answer based on recent observations in the Kanto area.

In smaller companies at least, the traditional role of the woman as chakumi (tea-pourer) seems to be falling by the wayside. Instead, pouring tea (and coffee, which is more popular nowadays), it's the new face (shinjin) who serves refreshments -- and only when customers visit. When no customers are present, everyone just gets their own, but women probably end up making the coffee a bit more than the boys.

Just my own observations.