Despitebankruptcies，layoffandtightercomsumersspending，afewfemaleled businessesinJapanaredevelopingwell.

ShizueHamada，52，setupabusinessin1991witheightotherhousewives-tocarefortheelderlyandthephysicallydisabled.

Itwasn’tlongbeforetheTasukeaiYui(mutual-aidgroup)earnedareputationfor itsexcellent service.Itnowemploys200 staff and has 300million yuan(US$2.4million)inannualsales.

Thewomansaidtheirbusinesshasbeensuccessfulbecausetheyprovidewhat customrsreallywant.

Theseentrepreneursaremakinguseofarevalized and healthydemand foreverydaybasicitems.

Bread，forinstance，is in highdemand．Business woman MeikoTanaka，26，startedsellinghigh-qualitybreadovertheInternetin2000．“Breadischeap，”shesaid.“Wemigh aswelleatthebreadbakedusingthethehighest-qualityingredients.”

Fivewomen—formerofficeworkersintheirlate20s—havestartedthe“OLFoodBureauofInvestigation”toreviewrestaurantsonthe Internet.OLmeansyoung officelady.It’s acommonnicknameinJapan．

Businessisincreasingrapidly．Membershipfortheironlinemagazinehasreached26，000．Theirnon-professionalcomments seemtocarryalotofweightwithconsumers．ThismonththefivewomenwillbeappearingonJapaneseTV．

Whatallthesefemaleentrepreneurshaveincommonisastrongbeliefintheir likesanddislikes，andconfidenceistheirownsensibilities．

Theyfindgapsinthemarketandfillthemwithproductsandservicesthattheylikeorwant.

Japanesewomenheadednearly6percentofall businessesinJapanattheendof June—upfrom4.5percentin1999．

Thesefemale—ledmicro—businessesareplayinganincreasinglylargeroleintheeconomybypluggingthegapbetweensupplyanddemand.

1.WhentalkingaboutthebusinesswomeninJapan，thewriter

A.thinkslittleofthem

B.thinksthattheywilltaketheplaceofmeninfuture

C.singsthepraisesof theirabilities

D.isnotsureof theirfuturedevelopment

2.Thepassagemainlydiscusses.

A.Japanesewomen B.female-ledbusinessesinJapan