. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> china has the world's highest number of female entrepreneurs with assets exceeding 1 billion u.s. dollars. china as always promoted gender equality based on exhumism. many phrases have been created throughout the years to convey such [ speaking foreign language ]

>> caught in the gap between an ideal and the reality of the rapidly changing chinese society, women are ochk negatively labeled. this episode follows three women in shanghai living life on their own [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> she came to shanghai eight years ago. she now works in a medical-related company. she is often called a shung yew even by her

cheng is from the autonomous region having always been the best student in her local schools, she went on to attend graduate school in shanghai. after graduate wlg honors, she became an official shanghai resident which is difficult to do. at about 36,000 u.s. dollars a year, her annual income is more than double that of peers her age. she flies all over china for work. but she says she hasn't returned to her hometown in several years because her relatives always try to set her up on arranged marriages. she has no interest in men living in rural

[ speaking foreign language ] >> the harder she works, the more responsibility she gets giving her less time to rest. she often simply shiples between her home and office. she never thought she'd come to be called a [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> he was the only person she has ever been engaged to. after the breakup, cheng changed jobs hoping to start everything over from scratch. at the squugs suggestion of a

friend, she launched a club that helps men and women meet potential life partners. the conditions for registering as a member, to be between age dollars 28 to 38 and a college graduate. for those among the 70 or so members who can attend, she organizes parties several times a [ speaking foreign language ] >> the participants are graduates of prestigious universities who work at foreign firms or research labs.

now that it's been four years since this organization was formed, many of them have become regulars. but so far, only one couple has resulted. [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ]

>> for nearly three hours the men and women simply voiced their opinions. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> just like cheng, behind the labels each person has their own perspective. [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> she was born in a farming village. after graduateding from a school for administrative work she married a local man.

while being a homemaker, she launched a successful marriage counseling center 12 years ago with a friend. it enabled her to invest in an equipment manufacturing company her husband founded four years later. they currently earn $90,000 annually. her company now has 36,000 members. they have succeeded in helping 2,300 couples tie the knot. she has been giving top priority to enriching the lives of each customer rather than on the company's bottom line. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> she has felt a great deal of pressure as a manager, sbu glad to be able to help her [ speaking foreign language ]cl. [ speaking foreign language ] >> as she became more dedicated to her work and her business grew, she spent less time at home. now it's difficult for her to

even take sundays off. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> three years ago she purchased a home and her husband's parents moved in with with hopes of becoming more educated and cultured, she began taking lessons bes despite her busy work schedule. she's now studying to become certified in related fields and hopes to attend college to advance her

[ speaking foreign language ] >> in addition, she takes the family on trips twice a year to make up for her absence during work hours. every month she sends money to her parents as well as her in-laws. she also remembers to send gifts for her entire family's birthdays and anniversaries. [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] >> her husband's venture has grown into a company with 500 employees and annual sales of $15 million. a burden of the success is that they rarely see each other. she is hardly ever home

[ speaking foreign language ] >> sometimes she makes time to go home early, but her work follows her she must ask her in-laws to take care of her children. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> very few people know the struggles of being a wife, a mother, and a company [ speaking foreign language ] this lady works as an assistant to the president at a pant patent company.

she studied law at the ufrpt add worked at major cities like beijing and shea ging after gradation. she was born and raised in a farming [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> she joined this company 18 months ago. she started as an add minute vatetive staff member but was

given a major promotion thanks to her skills. she now works directly under the company president assisting with various business contracts and coordinating between [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> she has been living alone

since she left her family home at age every morning she spends an hour studying. [ speaking foreign language ] >> she has always made her own decisions and put them into

action. her regimen for health is drinking one liter of every morning. she loves trying things that catch her attention, whatever that might be. she has tried everything from boxing to yoga, art classes, and mountain climbing. she says that having a hobby distracts her from her [ speaking foreign language ]

[ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ]

kblnch [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are

before whether working women, independent women or single women, society persists in applying labels to them. chinese society has changed a great deal, but women still have the unchanging roles of good wives and mothers pressed upon them. and now modern women are trying to find their own set of new values. when those values come to fruition, perhaps society will stop forcing unnecessary labels upon them and allow them to tell their own stories.

♪ ♪ hello there and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. people in japan have marked the 70th anniversary of the country's constitution. prime minister says he wants to see it revised in the year 2020. shinzo abe outlined his goal in a video address delivered at a gathering in tokyo. looking back on the 1964 tokyo olympics, he said those games gave japan the confidence to achieve rapid growth and become a developed nation. he said 2020 is also significant one for the people of japan because tokyo will once again host the summer games. the prime minister add h