Japanese project encourages men to lead change for gender equality

It sounds very worthy, if a little vague to me about what it actually is, but surely it needs some kind of cute character to make any headway in Japan.

Men take the lead? Is that gender equality? ironic.

We need better representation from women in construction as well as plumbing and electrical work.

And I think more men should be encouraged to work as nurses, caregivers, pre-school teachers, cashiers and secretaries, dental hygienists and dietitians.

 but surely it needs some kind of cute character to make any headway in Japan.

Hit the nail on the head!

... but it's the men who created the system. So...

I totally agree. A man who takes his wife's last name, or becomes a nurse isn't considered a man in Japan. There was one male nurse at my local hospital who was transferred because of how many people turned him down. The only English speaking nurse at the hospital, too.

They really need to work on the thought process. But also, they need to increase the salaries for those currently considered 'women specific' jobs too. I think equal salary is one of the biggest steps to gender equality.

I have livid in Japan long enough now to understand some of it's culture, rules, No No's , and Yes's.

My findings are that Japanese Women and Men are quiet happy with the status quo regardless of what others may think, and trust me when I say Japanese women are the BOSS and the Leaders of this society.

Women may have to walk one meter behind their husbands in public, but I know many salarymen who have to hand over their salary to their wives. In return they get ¥30000 pocket money a month average.

I think Japanese men are putting women ahead of themselves much more than we think. Sometimes voluntary, but most of the time involuntary.

That's gender discrimination and ‘The Patriarchy’ (TM) sorted then. Okay, next - world peace.

Good, Japan moving forward..

but it's the men who created the system. So...

So what??..

encourages men to take the lead in eliminating gender disparities 

It's good for men to be aware of and help with this, but c'mon, "take the lead"?! Men "taking the lead" with everything IS the problem!

It's obvious that men are the chief culprits in gender disparities that favour themselves.

So why shouldn't they take the lead in reducing them?

Makes perfect sense.

The inequality needs to be addressed in education for the younger generation and also at home. Women will never be able to have high positions if they still have to do most of the household work. Men need to work less and spend more time at home doing household chores and raising kids.

Also how backward is that: "not treating women like commodities", "not expecting sexual favors".

Really? Are men here really that low that they treat women like this?

One of several ways to address the plummeting population and work force problem in Japan. More working women. But as Japanese men and the government (one in the same) prefer to keep women out of work, zilch has been done to increase and improve daycare services.

@Awa no Gaijin

One of the most pleasant qualities i enjoy living in Japan is how feminine the Japanese ladies are.

Oh, ok so looking feminine is very important for you, typical of the Western man who feel threatened by the feminist women of the West....

And you are shocked because the "principles are based on feedback from women". Well, maybe that's because Japanese women are the most concerned, you know? Besides "looking feminine", they actually have a brain and can articulate thoughts and opinions.

Awa no GaijinToday 12:42 pm JST

It is rather amusing to celebrate man's day by lecturing them on how to be subservient towards women.

Who's leading who ?

Is this equality ?

Funny that you would see a call for equality as a call for subservience, as if men lose something when women are treated equally.

Furthermore how should men behave towards other gender categories - LGBTQ etc etc ?

With respect, of course.

Men all over Japan are rolling their eyes lol .

Rolling their eyes at the idea that women are equal? Well, what does that say about those men?

However realistically it's both men and women that are culprits and victims of thier gender disparities.

One of the most pleasant qualities i enjoy living in Japan is how feminine the Japanese ladies are.

Heavens forbid the ridiculous USA woke joke will ruin traditional family values in Japan.

You do realize that Japan is this whole other country that makes its own laws, and when those laws change, it's because the Japanese decided that for themselves, right?

@Awa no Gaijin

Heavens forbid the ridiculous USA woke joke will ruin traditional family values in Japan.

What does awareness of racial injustice have to do with traditional family values in Japan ? Or are you using that word without knowing what it even means ?

Why would Japanese men agree with this?

Japan is men's heaven and women's hell. Why would Japanese men want to give up their heavenly position?

Rather, the changes must come from Japanese women themselves; gender equality in the US and Europe weren't just handed to women; women fought for every bit of it.

Man, even THIS they put men in charge of?

What a load of bollocks. Japan, make your own decisions about what is right for your society and don't bow to foreign demands to follow the social justice movement.

One of several ways to address the plummeting population and work force problem in Japan. More working women. But as Japanese men and the government (one in the same) prefer to keep women out of work, zilch has been done to increase and improve daycare services.

More women working is more likely to lead to lower birthrates. Your assumption that "the patriarchy" is deliberately keeping women out of work, and not accounting for different life choices that women might make.

Daycare facilities are a lifesaver for many households that cant survive on one salary alone (perhaps that should be addressed), but I wouldnt be so keen just to churn out more babies to be looked after by daycare facilities. Much of the social problems today are from lack of parental attention in general.

when one takes the time to google GENKI KATSUBE, this ridiculous story only gets more bizarre;

https://twitter.com/KatsubeGenki

so we have a clear transsexual telling Japanese men to be more feminine.

Why has this unknown "social entrepreneur" suddenly got his "project" on the main pages of Japan Today. Japan Times, Kyodo News etc all on the same day?

Who is funding this "social entrepreneur" and what exactly is his (her)?) desired goal here?

Who or what is the is the money funding this media onslaught?

Exactly WHO is Genki Katsube, JT?

Exactly WHO is Genki Katsube?

A Satoshi Sakamoto rabbit hole?

zulanderToday 04:46 pm JST

More women working is more likely to lead to lower birthrates. Your assumption that "the patriarchy" is deliberately keeping women out of work, and not accounting for different life choices that women might make.

You are presenting this as if there are only two choices: "work and not have kids" or "stay at home mom". What if there were a third choice, "work and share child care equally" or even a forth, "work and let husband stay home."

A lower birth rate is also a sign that women are not feeling bound to motherhood - which is a life choice a lot of couples are making these days.

Ensuring women have more choices is good.

Katsube, who has published a book on discussions about the growing number of people moving away from romance and marriage, currently releases content on gender issues while supporting organizations that address social issues.

The 39-year-old began to consider it necessary to clarify actions men could take after regularly being told by women working on gender issues that they wished men who offered to help "would take care of their own problems first."

what are his qualifications?

The #MenWithWomen project was proposed around this summer and completed after soliciting opinions from the online community.

Who?

How many?

Is this "online community" representative of the Japanese population? Do they share the same values and ethics of the Japanese population?

@Mark I agree, women control the the P's the paper and you know the other the yen and the yang. In other words both understand they are married and paying for the lifestyle whether they want to think about it or not.

I have livid in Japan long enough now to understand some of it's culture, rules, No No's , and Yes's.

My findings are that Japanese Women and Men are quiet happy with the status quo regardless of what others may think, and trust me when I say Japanese women are the BOSS and the Leaders of this society.

@Paustovsky Good comment it wouldn't surprise me if Awa no Gaijin is using words without knowing what it means, if you look at his post 99% are always thumbs down. Very critical about the west, most often the west has nothing to do with the subject but he finds away to point his narrative that way!

@Awa no Gaijin

Heavens forbid the ridiculous USA woke joke will ruin traditional family values in Japan.

What does awareness of racial injustice have to do with traditional family values in Japan ? Or are you using that word without knowing what it even means ?

When I first glanced at this headline, I mistakenly read it as

"Japanese project encourages men to lead change for gender change"

I dunno... been reading too much on that subject these days, guess the brain interpolates a bit too much.

RodneyNov. 21  08:57 am JST

Women may have to walk one meter behind their husbands in public, but I know many salarymen who have to hand over their salary to their wives. In return they get ¥30000 pocket money a month average.

There are some cultures where men walk ten meters behind their women.  When anthropologists investigated this, they found the common answer.  Land mines.

You are presenting this as if there are only two choices: "work and not have kids" or "stay at home mom". What if there were a third choice, "work and share child care equally" or even a forth, "work and let husband stay home."

I think you will find that I referred to households not being able to survive on one salary alone, I don't care which parent it is, but having one parent at home looking after the kids is preferable to farming them off to childcare. Given the biological realities of not being able to share gestation etc of said offspring, means that in many cases the woman ends up getting held behind career wise, as well as other factors as mothers tending to prefer to stay home with younger children. All this talk of choice ; the problem is that many many mothers, and indeed fathers do not have the choice to be a stay at home parent due to financial constraints. Also, a lot of this kind of talk seems to assume that a career is the superior choice to staying at home, which quite frankly is very disrespectful to stay at home parents to say the least.