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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
I just started an assignment as an interpreter for a delegation of young political leaders from Japan, divided about evenly between members of the LDP and the DPJ as well as one journalist. Over our first dinner tonight it was interesting to hear their respective viewpoints regarding various issues, especially ones that are personal to them. For example, one DPJ rep and one LDP rep were having a friendly debate regarding day care. Both of these men have wives who work and 3-year old daughters, and as they live in the Tokyo area child care options are limited. There are not enough facilities to meet current needs, and those that exist are deluged by requests leading to long waiting lists.
As part of the Manifesto, the DPJ has proposed the implementation of a 子供手当て (kodomo teate) of 26,000 yen per month to provide financial aid to those who have a child. The LDP, on the other hand, does not advocate this and thinks this money should instead be put toward creating new child care facilities to satisfy the great demand. As the LDP legislative assistant informed me, unless something changes there are only two realistic choices for some families who want children. Due to the lack of infrastructure, if the couple decides to have a baby the wife has to give up her job. If she is not willing to do this they put off having children in favor of continuing their careers, contributing to Japan’s 少子化 (shoushika), or declining birthrate (This recent article from the European Business Council in Japan further delves into some of these issues).
He confided in me that in order to avoid having to make either of these two extreme choices, he made a promise to his wife that if they had a child he would handle 50% of the responsibility. In the States this might not be such a dramatic statement, but in Japan it is and this won her over. This led to a discussion on the recent phenomenon of 育メン (ikumen), or men who take an active part in child raising. At first I was confused and thought he was referring to イケメン (ikemen), or good-looking men. However, the term ikumen is a combination of the iku from 育児 (ikuji) or child rearing and men, whereas the men in ikemen refers to face with ike meaning kakkoii.
Evidently there are many Japanese fathers who are embracing their new roles as ikumen. They are accepting responsibilities that in the past traditionally fell to their wives, such as making their children’s lunches, picking them up from school, and being a more present parent in general. In Japan the image of a dad toting a baby bag while holding his child is now a cool one, and many companies are making goods tailored to this growing market. As for my future husband, I plan to go for a guy who is both ikemen and ikumen, because who says you can’t have it all?
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