In the past three years, Cynthia Usui has helped many Japanese housewives return to work after a long career gap, tapping into the acute labour shortage in the hotel industry. Now, those women’s jobs are threatened as the coronavirus outbreak has battered the country’s tourism sector. 

“This pandemic has affected the empowerment of women,” says Ms Usui, author of a book in Japanese called, Eight things Full-time Housewives Should do Before Entering the Workforce. “Tourism was the one industry that was wide open for women because it was fast growing. Now that one industry is suddenly closed.” 

Before the outbreak, Ms Usui offered coaching programmes for housewives to rebuild their careers, connecting them with potential employers in the hotel and tourism industry, which was booming before the restrictions on international travel.