Bachelors looking for love can now learn child-rearing skills to boost their chances of finding a partner.
The all-male ikumen course teaches men how to bathe and dress a baby and also helps them understand a woman's perspective on child-rearing, according to Ikumen University, the Osaka-based company behind the course.
Ikumen is a made-up word deriving from ikuji (child-rearing) and the English word "men," and usually refers to married men who take up active roles in child-rearing.
Participants in a session Sunday in Tokyo wore a 7-kg pregnancy jacket, were taught how to improve communication with a potential spouse and filled out a worksheet stating traits women are deemed to dislike in men.
"I wanted to create a form of certification proving a man's child-rearing skills and support for married life," said course instructor Takeshi Akiyama. "Matchmaking agencies can advertise such men as having 'extra value' by letting potential partners know he will support the marriage."
