Real change won't happen unless more men step up to share in parenting duties.

Obviously this woman hasn't done a lot of research on Japan for her to come to this conclusion. There is no way in hell most of the men I know would ever be able to take 12 months parental leave from their company. Many I teach can barely take a few personal days without being looked down upon.

As for stepping up on parental duties, I see far more young fathers doing much more for and with their children before.

Agree with Mark, men these days are stepping up with regards to household duties and trying harder. The culture of having to do late night drinking with work colleagues has also changed, but blokes taking 12 months off work is a big stretch. Slow incremental changes is the best way. Personally feel that communication and self expression skills need to be fostered. Strong bonds make strong families.

Many international marriages fail over childrearing issues. That is, many people who are happy to marry Japanese and who may think they are assimilated into Japan do not understand or foresee what raising a family in Japan entails. I am very fluent in Japanese but have had to accept many aspects of child raising and schooling that I was completely unaware of. I expect most foreign academics who have merely read academic papers to have little understanding of family or workplace dynamics here. There is a tendency for foreign academics to look at on-paper provisions such as parental leave at top companies and reach all sorts of conclusions that sound silly when placed in the context of employer-employee and inter-colleague interactions in an actual workplace as experienced by many real people in Japan.

Real change in what? Why is there any need for change? The notion that men here work endlessly and thus neglect their family is no longer true. Modern men work very hard and then work very hard when they get home too.

Taking a year off would literally help nothing. Raising a baby was one of the easiest aspects of parenthood. It certainly doesn't get easier, if aything the needs grow over time. Now seven years old, my son is more needy than he was as an infant.

I'd love to have a year off, but my workplace offers five days of paternity leave when the baby is born. I now use literally all of my regular paid holidays for childcare, especially when the schools take a long break in the summer. I haven't had a 'day off' since 2017.

So while the man has to take parented leave who’s going to pay the rent, mortgage, health insurance? Or is the money tree outside? Oh and what about the bonus? So this (if we flip it) means women must work longer hours in the office, do more overtime, and come home late, while the hubby stays at home and does the cooking, cleaning, shopping, taking the kids to school, July runs, homework etc? Sure! No problem! So long as the earnings are the same. But I think some women in Japan think it’s men’s job o go to work, do the overtime, get the bonus and in some ways leave the home to their partners. This all comes down to money and earning potential.

I would add real change can’t happen if your salary isn’t about 60,000 pounds on average in the U.K where she works.

so that’s about 11.5 million yen a year. Her one single salary could easily allow her partner to take years off and she could still afford to buy a home. Infact she probably earns about (depending on the tax system) 10x the average amount of a women in Japan who has kids.

I agree with the most of you

 Oxford Internet Institute and Institute for Ethics in AI who researches the societal impact of Japanese labor practices.

where does she reside. an ex-colonial.

Ok, me and my non -wife much better half. talk talk talk, she wanted to enjoy child in her early 30's, (talk involved the bucks stuff) yr1 education trust was no problem for us. it is not about time off it is about talking / sharing and being aware. her younger bro already had two was a valuable adviser. We had to adapt the trust as schooling patterns adopted private junior high.

Nancy. Now seven years old, my son is more needy. needy for what he wants or for what he needs? big budget changing aspect.

"Years of overwork, excessive company loyalty, and an aversion to risk-taking are beginning to plague Japanese society. The Japanese government points to the shrinking and aging population as the problem. However, what it fails to acknowledge is that old people are not the problem; old systems are. The shrinking population is not the culprit; Japanese society’s response is. An overhaul of Japanese governance, in areas such as immigration, diversity, labor, and mental health, is necessary to keep the country alive":

Diagnosing and Curing Japan: Why Japan is dying, and how to revive it – The Yale Globalist (2018)

Japan needs to start paying women to have children:

"Over the past decade, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán appears to have realized an old feminist dream: state-sponsored remuneration of women’s (previously unpaid) childcare. Women – or families, to be more precise – are now receiving significant sums of government money for having and raising children."

"Since the mid-2010s, the Hungarian government has introduced a long line of policies offering grants and loans to parents and would-be parents. Those who have, or pledge to have, children, are eligible for a baby grant of 10 million forints (roughly five years’ minimum wage). Families who choose to have three or more children can access especially generous tax breaks and highly subsidized mortgages."

"Parental leave is also especially generous in Hungary. Once they have children, new parents can stay at home for a maximum of three years on full pay." (Eva Fodor)

My manager is on a 12 months male-parental leave. A few non-managers are on 3 to 6-months male-parental leave. This is only possible because we're a giant company in Japan, there are people who can cover.

We are an exception.

Most companies are mid to small, impossible to take 12 months leave, leaving others and especially the clients without support.

Hey, I’m a stay at home dad. In other words, House husband. My wife works. This arrangement works perfectly for us in Japan.

More change won't happen unless real men step up to share in parenting duties.

More change won't happen unless real men step up to share in parenting duties.

Bringing home the bacon is a huge duty that takes more effort and is more stressful than getting up to make lunch, cook breakfast, put some clothes in the washing machine then either play in the park with your kids or go out for coffee with your friends.

Roger GusainJan. 7  08:07 pm JST

Japan needs to start paying women to have children:

So they need to pay women to have children! I see! and how about the man who stays at home while the woman goes out to work? Should the government pay MEN to stay home and look after the children?

It's not just women, it's supposed to be a family. If this is about equality then it should be a no brainer, and the answer should be YES.

John-SanToday  06:20 am JST

More change won't happen unless real men step up to share in parenting duties.

Can you define/explain what real men are, please? If you earn 12 million yen your wife doesn't need to work, but you work until 9pm every day, Are you not a real man? Or when you do get home the kids are in bed, So your not a real man? Or do you mean men who earn only 3 or 4 million yen a year, and the wife has to work? Real men provide/help and support the family in may ways? But to be honest, this isn't about REAL MEN, or REAL WOMEN, REAL FATHERS or REAL MOTHERS, it's about what works financially for the family. And many of the real men work, spend time with their kids, while many of their "REAL WOMEN" stay home and watch T.V. Because they don't need to work. However, how would you define a real women/real mother?

Harsh .!.

His words, not mine

blackpassengerToday  03:14 am JST

Hey, I’m a stay at home dad. In other words, House husband. My wife works. This arrangement works perfectly for us in Japan.

Good for you. I'm glad it works for you guys.( sadly many families are not financially able to do that).

Abe: Mate, I swap two words around in the header to see if anyone would realise. I wanted to bring to notice, That it is not about gender it about parents sharing parenting duties, There are family that have both male as parents and there are families that have. both female as Parents. By reading your comment I assume you forgot all about equality as you assume all families can only have a wifes and husbands, or Father and mother as Parents. It has not been that way for decades. Family have Parents and Partners. Families are not gender specific.

John-SanToday  03:12 pm JST

Abe: Mate, I swap two words around in the header to see if anyone would realise. I wanted to bring to notice, That it is not about gender it about parents sharing parenting duties, There are family that have both male as parents and there are families that have. both female as Parents. By reading your comment I assume you forgot all about equality as you assume all families can only have a wifes and husbands, or Father and mother as Parents. It has not been that way for decades. Family have Parents and Partners. Families are not gender specific.

I totally agree with you. Women can have a wife/partner. and a husband can have a husband/Partner. But for clarity, I felt it was easier to keep on the professor's topic and her perception of what a family is. (rightfully or wrongfully). Anyway, I felt her view was based on her assumption( not mine) that a family has a man and a woman. But I am totally on board with what you are saying. I didn't want to muddy the waters too much. but you're right; it is about sharing parenting. No matter the type of family the kids are in. I think that's why I also said it is not about men or women but about the "family" and stereotypes. I should have been clearer. But I guess the professor's remit was about heterosexual couples. A little bit further up, I did use "her partner", leaving that open to the reader's interpretation.