优衣库继承人可能是女性

Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Co.’s 70-year-old billionaire founder, said he would prefer to be succeeded by a woman, which would be better for Asia’s largest retailer.

迅销公司(Fast Retailing Co.)创始人、现年70岁的亿万富翁柳井正(Tadashi Yanai)说，他更希望由一位女性接任，这对这家亚洲最大的零售商来说会更有利。

“The job is more suitable for a woman,” Yanai, the chief executive officer behind clothing giant Uniqlo, said in an interview. “They are persevering, detailed oriented and have an aesthetic sense.”

“这份工作更适合女性，”服装巨头优衣库(Uniqlo)的首席执行官柳井正(Yanai)在接受采访时说。“她们坚持不懈，注重细节，有美感。”

As Yanai gets older, he’s been asked more frequently about succession at the company, which he built from his father’s tailor shop into a global brand.

随着年龄的增长，柳井正越来越多地被问及公司的继承权问题。柳井正把父亲的裁缝店发展成为一个全球品牌。

A possible candidate could be Maki Akaida, who was appointed this year to run Uniqlo’s Japan operations — the company’s most profitable unit.

一位可能的候选人是赤田真治(Maki Akaida)，她今年被任命负责优衣库日本业务——该公司利润最高的部门。

Yanai said he wants to increase the ratio of female senior executives to more than half the total.

柳井正表示，他希望将女性高管的比例提高到一半以上。

Fast Retailing currently has six women in such roles, after hitting its goal last year of having more than 30% of women in management positions.

迅销去年实现了管理职位女性比例超过30%的目标，目前已有6名女性担任这类职位。

Fast Retailing shares climbed 0.9% in Tokyo trading on Wednesday.

周三，迅销在东京的股价上涨0.9%。

Japan has faced scrutiny over its lack of gender diversity in top management roles; only 4.1% of executive titles at publicly traded firms in the country are held by women. That pales in comparison with places such as the U.S., where women make up about a quarter of executive ranks, according to multiple studies.

日本的高层管理职位缺乏性别多样性，因此受到了社会关注;在美国上市公司中，只有4.1%的高管职位由女性担任。与美国等地相比，这显得微不足道，多项研究显示，在美国，女性在高管队伍中约占四分之一。

“It’s a possibility,” Yanai said when asked whether Akaida would be a potential successor. Akaida, 40, joined the company in 2001 and has managed Uniqlo stores in China and Japan, as well as working in the sales and human resources divisions.

“这是一种可能性，”当被问及Akaida是否会是一个潜在的继任者时，柳井正表示。现年40岁的Akaida于2001年加入优衣库，管理中国和日本的优衣库门店，并负责销售和人力资源部门工作。