There is a reason for Japanese men's unhelpfulness at home. 

 

In Japan's corporate¹ culture, many employees - almost all men - are more devoted² to their company than to their family. They routinely work long hours. They accept reassignment to remote locations without question. They carouse³ with colleagues and corporate clients till late at night. 

 

Many young Japanese fathers today say they would like to be more involved in raising their children, but very few feel at liberty to take the child-care leave to which they are entitled by law. 

 

Such a work style is possible for a man married to a stay-at-home woman who excuses him duties at home, but it is a different story for a woman with children.

 

About 70 percent of Japanese women leave the labor⁴ force after giving birth to their first child. Only about one-third of Japanese mothers with young children work, compared with 50 to 60 percent in the United States, Britain and Germany, and 75 percent in Sweden. 

 

It is not fair to just blame Japan's corporations for Japanese women's retreat from workplaces. There are not enough child-care centers in Japan. Women are often caught in a Catch 22 situation: they cannot secure a job until a child-care slot is available, and they are not eligible⁵ for such a slot until they have a job. 

 

Many women, as a result, choose to stay at work rather than have children. 

 

Shinwa Agency Co, Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan's Daiwa House Group, offers its employees a bonus of 1 million yen⁶ ($8,410) for a child they give birth to. But very few female employees at Shinwa have taken the bonus. 

 

It is commendable⁷ that Japanese companies are changing. Some companies including Itochu, a general trading house, and Ricoh, a printer maker⁸, are initiating⁹ flexible working hours so as to reduce or put an end to overtime¹⁰. 

 

This move allows men to engage in raising their children and working mothers to balance work and family responsibilities.

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