A sign marking a place where parents can change their baby's diapers or rest while feeding them is spreading nationwide as local authorities roll out increasing numbers of such facilities.
The sign was created by the Kitakyushu Municipal Government, Fukuoka Prefecture. It marks a so-called akachan-no-eki (baby station) and aims to assist parents out and about.
The sign, bearing images such as a baby's face, a diaper and a feeding bottle, was adopted by 53 municipalities as of mid-November, according to the Kitakyushu Municipal Government.
Baby stations were first launched by Tokyo's Itabashi Ward in 2006. It designated public facilities such as nurseries and children's play spaces with cribs as places where people can feed babies and change their diapers free of charge. The Kitakyushu government started the system in 2008, expanding it to include facilities run by private companies such as department stores and drug stores. The municipal government selected the design for the sign out of five candidates based on voting by local residents.
The city called on other municipalities through its website to adopt the sign, and some municipalities in Fukuoka, as well as the cities of Chiba, Nagoya, Nakano in Nagano Prefecture and Beppu in Oita Prefecture, have adopted it.
"We expect more municipalities to use the sign," said a Kitakyushu Child and Domestic Affairs Bureau official. "We hope it will help increase awareness toward baby stations."
