Tag Archives: gender roles

“Japan should rethink gender roles”? Yeah, no kidding

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

On December 5th, I gave an invited lecture-slash-workshop at a university in Gifu, where conservative values reign and men and women think they can run the families like it’s 1899. The very same I made the trek up there, an … Continue reading →

Posted in gender roles, Japan, Japanese, Japanese society, parenting, roles, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Years of Taking Leave

Posted on December 6, 2019 by

Looking back, it’s amazing to me now that I dared to even apply for a year of paternity leave while living in a foreign country. But I’ve never regretted the decision. As I told an audience of university students and … Continue reading →

Posted in book, day care, education, gender roles, Japan, Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese society, parenting, Paternity leave, school | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Paternity Leave: A few thoughts after the fact

Posted on December 30, 2013 by

I haven’t written on this blog in two years for a very good reason: I didn’t take a child care leave for my second child. From April 2010 to March 2011 I took a one year of child care leave … Continue reading →

Posted in colleague reactions, gender roles, Japan, parenting, Paternity leave, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Endings and beginnings

Posted on March 31, 2011 by

I go back to work tomorrow on April 1st. My year-long paternity leave is over. No April Fools.

Posted in day care, gender roles, Japan, Paternity leave | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Men should work, women should stay home”

Posted on July 23, 2010 by

I sat outside the passport center building with my daughter in her stroller and showed both her passports. “Now you’re officially both American and Japanese,” I told her (of course, she had no idea what I was saying; she just … Continue reading →

Posted in gender roles, Paternity leave, roles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Toy Boy?

Posted on July 12, 2010 by

This past weekend, my wife and I stopped by at a nearby “home showcase.” Basically, the idea is that a number of construction companies build a model house in the same area, and then you can visit all the big … Continue reading →

Posted in baby toys, day care, family outings, roles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Tanakas, “tenkin,” and “o-mutsu-koukan”

Posted on May 27, 2010 by

A few weeks ago (before all the hospital melodrama), I took my daughter to a nearby supermarket…which had a “baby care room” on the second floor, next to the roof parking lot. We had been invited by a Japanese couple … Continue reading →

Posted in gender roles, roles, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment