Biden to Japanese women: ‘Do your husbands like you working full-time?’

During a tour of a Japanese Internet company Tuesday, Vice President Biden asked a group of women, “Do your husbands like you working full-time?”

{mosads}Biden asked the question of five women while sitting with them in the DeNa cafeteria, according to a White House pool report.

Biden visited the firm in an attempt to promote the company’s embrace of women in the workforce. Japan has lagged behind other countries in integrating more women into the workforce because of problems with its aging population, the report noted.

Biden also asked the women if they were married, and three said they are, the report said. He also asked if they had children.

“Can anyone work from home?” Biden asked. “Yes, under certain conditions,” one woman replied.

Newly sworn-in U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy accompanied Biden to the meeting and the tour of the company.

President Obama dispatched Biden to Asia this week to help calm relations between Japan and China, who remain at odds over China’s new air defense zone.

Biden, who heads to China Wednesday, will also visit South Korea.