In Japanese, Doboku means civil engineering and Joshi means female or women. Now it has been a trend that female workers have been covering the lack of workers in construction and engineering industry. By taking the initial of those two Japanese words, we call those female workers Dobojo, sounds like a French word….
Especially in a region where the number of workers has been limited such as islands or underpopulated areas, construction companies have been looking at female workers. Okinawa, the southern part of Japan and Japan’s number one ocean resort destination has been booming in terms of new construction. Among Okinawa islands, Miyako island, 50 min by plane from the mainland Okinawa, has been the area where one of the skyrocketing construction cost increase has been recorded. New airport has opened, several new hotels and government facility’s new construction have been on the pipeline. One of my friend, Akiko, who lives in a small island adjacent to Miyako got the license of construction accountant and now she has been heavily involved in a managerial function in the construction operation. She is a single mother and lives with her 12 year old son. While doing a night start watching guide during night, in daytime, she has actively visited several construction sites. Even though we have been suffering from the lack of workers, we still can see very reliable resources who can contribute to drive local as well as national economy. Jeanne d’Arc, we can always find under any circumstances.
