Mothers should remember that the responsibility of raising children lies first with each household before making "shameless" demands for more nursery schools, a Suginami Ward Assembly member wrote Feb. 21 in his blog, drawing hundreds of angry comments.

Yutaro Tanaka, a member of the local Liberal Democratic Party chapter, was criticizing a group of mothers who held a protest outside the Tokyo ward office earlier in February. Tanaka, 37, said in his entry that while "woman power" is necessary to revitalize the economy, he thought that the mothers' attitudes "had no touch of reserve nor shame."

"What I am saying is don't force your child-rearing on society from the start. . . . (The mothers) should have the manners and etiquette to say 'Please help us raise our children,' " Tanaka complained on his blog, adding he is not married and has no kids.