Japan's Paternity Childcare Leave Acquisition Rate Tops 30%

Aug 01 (NHK) - The percentage of male corporate workers in Japan who took childcare leave hit a record high in fiscal 2023.

Japan's labor and welfare ministry conducted its annual survey last October. Some 3,400 businesses responded.

The paternity childcare leave acquisition rate in the business year that ended in March was 30.1 percent, up 13 points from the previous fiscal year. Both the acquisition rate and the margin of increase were record highs. The rate in 2019 was just 7.48 percent.

The Japanese government aims to raise the paternity childcare leave acquisition rate to 50 percent by 2025.

The percentage of women who took childcare leave was 84.1 percent, up 3.9 points.

The paternity childcare leave acquisition rate was 34.2 percent at businesses with 500 or more employees and 31.1 percent at those with 100 to 499 employees.

The rate at businesses with five to 29 employees was 26.2 percent.

While more than 90 percent of women were on leave for six months or longer, 37.7 percent of men were off work for less than two weeks.

Ministry officials say businesses are now obliged to confirm whether employees who report pregnancy or childbirth would like to take childcare leave, and this may have led to the increase in the acquisition rate.

They plan to bolster measures, such as by mandating businesses to raise the childcare allowance rate, and to publicize the percentage of male workers who took childcare leave.

Baby Boom at North Safari Sapporo Despite Eviction Plans

Spring has brought a wave of newborn animals to North Safari Sapporo, a privately run zoo in Minami Ward, Sapporo City, even as the facility remains under pressure to remove illegal structures and relocate its animals.

Spectators Soak Up Rainy Sanja Festival

The Sanja Festival at Asakusa Shrine in Tokyo, a signature early-summer tradition of the downtown area, reached its peak on Saturday as groups of local carried mikoshi through the streets in the main 'Rengo Togyo' procession despite the rain.

Southern Kyushu Enters Rainy Season Earlier Than Okinawa for First Time in 49 Years

Southern Kyushu has entered the rainy season, marking the first time in 49 years that it has done so earlier than Okinawa. It is also the earliest rainy season start for any region in Japan since the Meteorological Agency began keeping records. Authorities are warning of heavy rainfall not only in Kyushu but across other parts of the country as well.

Saitama Road Collapse Recovery to Take 5-7 Years

A road collapse in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture is expected to take five to seven years to fully restore, local officials said on Friday, following the recovery of a truck cab that had remained lodged in the sewer system since the January accident.

Eighty Years On, Okinawa Remembers the Battle of Sugar Loaf Hill

Eighty years have passed since the end of World War II, yet the memories of its fiercest battles continue to echo in the heart of Okinawa. The district of Omoromachi in central Naha, now a lively urban hub filled with people, was once the site of one of the bloodiest clashes of the Battle of Okinawa—the Battle of Sugar Loaf Hill.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Education NEWS

Free Tuition Fuels Shift Toward Private High Schools, Leaving Public Schools Behind?

Japan’s policy to provide free high school tuition for both public and private schools is expanding options for families who once gave up on private education due to cost. However, in Osaka, where this policy was implemented ahead of other regions, even prestigious public high schools are now struggling to fill seats.

Rescue Readiness on Display as Firefighters Demonstrate Skills

Firefighters selected from Kasuga, Onojo, and Nakagawa in Fukuoka Prefecture demonstrated their rescue techniques on May 16th ahead of an upcoming skills competition designed to test emergency response capabilities.

Is Japanese a Difficult Language?

Many Japanese people agree that Japanese is a difficult language, especially for foreigners. They point out the complexity of homonyms, kanji characters, multiple writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji), and the different intonations that can change meaning—for example, the word "hashi" can mean either "bridge" or "chopsticks" depending on pronunciation. Even native speakers find this confusing.

Painting a Shiba Inu with Acrylic Gouache – Watch It Come to Life!

In this video, watercolor artist Shibasaki brings an adorable Shiba Inu to life using acrylic gouache. From the initial pencil sketch to layering warm colors and creating soft, fluffy fur, you'll see every step of the process – almost entirely uncut! (Watercolor by Shibasaki)

Japan's Teachers to Receive Higher Pay and Shorter Hours

A bill to revise the Kyūtoku Law, aiming to improve the treatment of Japan's public school teachers by gradually raising the salary supplement in place of overtime pay from 4% to 10%, was approved by the Lower House Committee on Education on Wednesday after ruling and opposition parties agreed on revisions.