Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National Sep 22, 2013
Government bids to take lead in boosting parental leave rates among men
The National Personnel Authority will survey how fathers employed by government agencies view the parental leave program in an attempt to get more employees to take time off after the birth of a child, it has been learned. By encouraging more fathers to use ...
Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY Aug 6, 2013
Let your babies get loud at karaoke
by Danielle Demetriou
It’s Friday evening in Shibuya. The sun is setting, the neon is flashing and the crowds are swelling. And so with beginning-of-the-weekend fever in the air, it is perhaps little surprise that Madonna is already blaring in one karaoke room on the second floor ...
Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY Jul 3, 2013
Bubbles, music and paint as babies learn to create
by Danielle Demetriou
For a moment, I wonder if I’ve accidentally strayed onto the set of a children’s TV programme. Center stage are three grown men in matching T-shirts singing at the top of their voices in a Technicolor-bright toy-filled room more dazzling than Joseph’s dreamcoat. Beneath ...
National Jun 27, 2013
NPO helps granddads learn child-rearing skills
by Satoshi Toi
A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization is promoting a program to help grandfathers learn the basics of nurturing babies. The NPO, called Egalite Otemae, began the program in 2010 to address the growing need for grandparents to get involved in child-rearing as the number of working ...
Social Issues Jun 25, 2013
20% of young fathers put in 60-hour weeks
Nearly 20 percent of male employees in their 30s work more than 60 hours a week, making it difficult for them to participate in raising children, a 2013 government white paper on dealing with the low birthrate shows.