Japan is socially conservative especially in regards to gender roles. The world economic forum ranked Japan 120th (out of 156 countries) in gender equality. Sexual assault is also a big problem in Japan, it’s prevalent enough that they have women only train cars because sexual assault on the subways was so rampant.

Based on what I’ve read on the topic, Japanese youth are rejecting a lot of the traditional values that have been prevalent in Japanese society. I think that’s why so much Japanese fiction has started to question these ideals.