Sayaka Osakabe, Japanese women's rights activist, was born in 1978, Japan. Osakabe's story is one of courage, and one worth knowing. Osakabe worked as a magazine editor at a publishing house in Japan, when she first became pregnant. Unfortunately, she lost her child as she was too busy working in the office. Her second pregnancy six months later didn't go any better. Her doctor placed her on sick leave and advised her to take it easy for a while, however after a week, her boss visited her at home. He stated that her absence was causing problems and that wanting to have both a child and a career at the same time was greedy. Due to these demands, Osakabe went back to work and lost her unborn child again. Infuriating and sad right! That's when she quit! Osakabe then pursued her case with a labor tribunal which she won and formed a non-profit corporation and support group called "Matahara Net." The term Matahara is a hybrid term taken from "Maternity and Harassment." As Japan is a country that has low workplace equality and high maternity harassment towards their female employees, this organization supports women who would like to fight for their right! Although Japan has a law that allows 14 weeks of maternity leave, many women do not take this due to perceived job insecurity. In 2014, Matahara members attended a trial at the Supreme Court in support of another woman going through the same thing. This particular woman was demoted by her hospital employer during her pregnancy. A lower court ruling found that it was "in the scope of the hospital authority over personnel issues to remove her from her supervisory position," but Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law specifically bans demotion due to pregnancy. So, the court voted against the demotion. Osakabe continues her efforts with Matahara Net promoting the empowerment of women. Her goal is to change public policy and social perception so that all women, rather than an elite few, will have equal work opportunities. Thanks to Osakabe's actions and commitment, maternal harassment has been punishable by law in Japan since 2017. Her achievements did not go unnoticed as she received the International Women of Courage Award in 2015.

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