Japan's Fathers Want More Time at Home. Workplaces Are Struggling to Keep Up

Record parental leave meets the pressure of long workdays

More than 40 percent of fathers in Japan took paternity leave in the last fiscal year, the highest share recorded in the latest national survey. Yet many returned to work quickly, showing how difficult it remains to turn a legal right into lasting time with children. As of December 1, 2025, the country faces a widening gap between changing expectations of fatherhood and workplaces that still depend on long days and overtime arranged at short notice.

The increase in leave marks a sharp change. A decade ago, very few men took it, and the share was still in the low single digits in 2019. Japan gives men access to one of the longest paid parental leave schemes among countries with high incomes. Pressure to keep pace with work and avoid adding to colleagues' workloads nevertheless helps keep many absences brief.

A Cabinet Office survey of 20,000 workers shows that the desire for change extends beyond leave after a birth. Among men, 34.1 percent wanted to reduce their working hours. More than 40 percent of both men and women wanted more time with their families. Younger fathers expressed the strongest wish to be at home, while identifying heavy workloads, staffing shortages and rewards for staying late as barriers.

Families are also confronting a less visible problem: fathers can struggle with depression, grief and anxiety around childbirth. A dedicated clinic in Nagano Prefecture, changing recruitment choices and corporate experiments all point to the same practical challenge. Taking leave is one step; finding enough time and support to remain involved after returning to work is another.

Fatherhood is becoming a visible part of daily life

Public campaigns have helped make active fatherhood more familiar. The term ikumen, a play on words meaning men who care for children, entered everyday language in the late 2000s. It gave a name to a role that was becoming more visible in homes and public life.

Fathering Japan, a nonprofit organisation, promotes the idea that parenting is a skill men learn through practice. Its work also encourages the iku boss, a manager who supports employees with children while expecting them to do good work. The message connects what happens at home with decisions made by supervisors.

Men in suits carrying both a briefcase and a diaper bag on the way to daycare are increasingly common on city streets. Such everyday routines send a simple cultural signal: caring for children is a father's responsibility too.

Research involving fathers and supervisors shows that leave decisions reflect several pressures at once. Some men worry about damage to their careers; others see leave as a chance to develop as parents. A mother's request for help or a baby's health problem can influence the decision. Supportive managers and flexible schedules encourage leave, while concern about burdening colleagues discourages it.

Social expectations also matter. As involved fathers become more visible, more men come to regard leave as normal. Public health evidence links fathers' early involvement with benefits for children and better recovery for mothers. The change is therefore about both sharing daily tasks and supporting family health.

How work and commuting take time away from children

Research using a national dataset covering more than 27,000 families found that fathers working longer hours spent less time with their children on workdays and rest days. Longer commutes were also associated with less time together and fewer childcare activities.

Stories, baths, daycare pickups and evening routines all need time that cannot easily be recovered after a late return home. Studies of working families found that fathers handled a smaller share of childcare tasks as daily working hours increased. The pattern continued even when mothers were employed, and the reduction extended beyond weekdays.

Commuting adds another restriction by draining energy and limiting flexibility. A father facing a long journey has less room to adjust when daycare calls or an evening routine needs attention. For many households, the main barrier is the shape of the working day rather than a lack of interest in parenting.

Workplace size also mattered in the national analysis. Men in very large organisations tended to spend less time with children than men in smaller firms. More layers of management, stricter expectations about staying late and less freedom to change schedules are possible explanations for that pattern.

Among male employees aged 20 to 39 who worked heavy overtime, nearly one third said people who stayed late received better evaluations. Another third said bosses or colleagues did not understand attempts to reduce working hours. Almost half cited heavy workloads, and many pointed to labour shortages.

Those incentives can pull fathers back toward the office even when they want more time at home. A generous leave entitlement may help immediately after a birth, while the same workload and evaluation practices continue to shape family life once leave ends.

Fathers' mental health needs care too

Shinshu University Hospital in Nagano Prefecture opened Japan's first clinic dedicated to fathers' perinatal mental health in 2024. Perinatal care concerns the period around pregnancy and birth. Staff treating mothers had noticed that many husbands were struggling as well, bringing a problem often discussed mainly in relation to mothers into medical care for fathers.

Murakami Hiroshi, a specialist in perinatal mental health at the hospital, sees about 20 fathers each year in the outpatient programme. He developed the service after mothers receiving treatment raised concerns about their partners' health. He says support must expand alongside policies encouraging men to take a larger parenting role.

When men take a bigger role in parenting or go on childcare leave, their mental health can be strained. Policy and clinical support need to advance together.

Ito Yoshiki sought help after his first child with his wife, Rena, was stillborn. As Rena's physical and mental health worsened, Ito tried to support her while developing insomnia and other problems himself. He now attends the clinic as the couple prepares for the birth of another child.

Ito described the pressure he felt to hide his distress rather than speak about it.

I felt pressure to be strong and not show weakness. Without these visits, I may never have opened up.

Depression after childbirth can affect men too. The experiences described at the Nagano clinic show why support for fathers needs to include grief, sleep problems and stress, alongside the practical demands of caring for a baby.

Some fathers change jobs to make parenting possible

Kawanishi Keiji, a father of three who handles weekday daycare pickups, looked for a job with less overtime when his first child was born. Even after making that change, he encountered disapproval when he took time off to care for a sick child.

Kawanishi said his supervisor suggested that such absences were inappropriate for men. He described the response this way:

It was implied that men are not supposed to take that kind of time off.

He changed jobs again to reduce the strain on his wife. His experience shows how a manager's reaction can affect whether a family can share care, even when a father has deliberately chosen work intended to leave more time at home.

Career services aimed at parents report growing interest from men seeking more flexibility. Some are changing roles; others are asking for different arrangements in their current jobs. One provider says men make up about 30 percent of its users, a share that would have surprised recruiters a decade ago.

The provider's founder, a father who had struggled to manage responsibilities at home and work, argues that companies can retain staff and reduce burnout by reconsidering schedules, staffing and evaluation. Surveys of fathers in both large and small companies support the value of accommodating parental needs and giving employees more control over their work.

Fathers participate more in childcare when their workplace makes room for parenting and offers greater autonomy. In settings with high stress, involvement tends to fall. Written policies matter, but daily decisions by managers also determine whether employees can use them.

Kirin tests what happens when parenting changes the schedule

Kirin Holdings created Nari Kirin Mom and Dad Training, a simulation lasting a month that exposed employees to the time pressures of parenting. During the pilot, a pretend call from daycare about a child's fever required participants to cancel meetings and transfer tasks to colleagues through a clear handover plan.

The exercise made an unexpected care responsibility part of the working day. Employees had to reorganise work rather than assume that the person assigned to a task would always be available. Overtime fell sharply during the trial, and confidence among future parents increased.

As the programme expanded, Kirin reported sustained gains. The rates of women taking childcare leave and returning to work were close to 100 percent. The share of men taking childcare leave rose from 29 percent in 2017 to 50 percent in 2021, an increase of 21 percentage points.

The changes in team expectations continued after the exercise ended. Kirin's experience illustrates the practical value of rehearsing handovers and adjusting meetings before a real family emergency interrupts the schedule.

Government reforms and proposals take different approaches

Japan's Work Style Reform Law, passed in 2018, capped overtime and promoted the use of paid time off. The government later expanded parental leave options and introduced special leave for fathers after childbirth to encourage involvement from the beginning.

Tokyo's metropolitan government also began offering its staff an option to work four days a week. It created partial childcare leave allowing employees to reduce their daily working hours. Both measures aim to help parents remain employed without giving up necessary care at home.

The developments span several years:

• 2017: Kirin's share of men taking childcare leave stood at 29 percent.
• 2018: Japan passed the Work Style Reform Law, capping overtime and promoting paid time off.
• 2019: The national share of fathers taking paternity leave was still in the low single digits.
• 2021: Kirin's share of men taking childcare leave reached 50 percent.
• 2024: Shinshu University Hospital opened its dedicated clinic for fathers' perinatal mental health.
• By December 1, 2025: The latest national survey showed paternal leave uptake above 40 percent, while Tokyo had introduced options for a shorter working week and reduced daily hours.

Broader proposals include mandatory paternity leave. An economist studying ageing and population trends has advocated it, pointing to father quotas in Scandinavia. These reserve a portion of parental leave for fathers that cannot be transferred to mothers, encouraging more men to use it.

The economist also proposes a greater role for older workers in covering staffing gaps when younger employees take leave. New technology and better organisation of work are suggested as ways to maintain productivity while staff are absent.

A Kyoto University professor has proposed higher overtime pay rates. Making extra hours more expensive could encourage employers to hire additional staff or invest in digital systems, reducing reliance on long days for routine tasks. Shorter hours could then become more acceptable for employees with and without children.

Fathering Japan's iku boss approach focuses on the person who turns policy into daily practice. Managers who respect parenting time can encourage leave, arrange smooth cover among colleagues and keep teams working toward their goals. Mandatory leave and higher overtime premiums remain proposals; no adoption dates were given.

Fewer births add urgency to the debate

Japan's total fertility rate fell to 1.20 in 2023, below the 2.1 needed to keep a population stable without immigration. The fertility rate describes the average number of children a woman would have if prevailing birth rates continued through her childbearing years.

The health ministry recorded 720,988 births in 2024, the ninth consecutive annual decline. Deaths reached 1.62 million that year. Japan's population is shrinking and ageing, with a median age near 50, meaning roughly half the population is older than that age and half younger.

Marriages fell below half a million in 2023, the first time in about nine decades. Countries with very long working hours, including Japan and South Korea, tend to have lower birth rates. When working days run late, parents may postpone having children or stop after one.

International labour statistics also show how unevenly unpaid work is shared. Men in Japan average about 68 minutes a day on household and family care, compared with about 242 minutes for women. Women therefore spend about 174 minutes more each day, more than three and a half times the time spent by men.

Reducing that gap requires a different division of responsibilities at home and shorter, more predictable working days. A father who is routinely unavailable in the evening leaves fewer opportunities for care to be shared, regardless of the family's preferences.

Government responses include childcare subsidies, more daycare places and pilot programmes such as public dating apps. Families' experiences suggest that financial support and new services have limited reach when long working hours continue and workplaces resist active fatherhood.

Reliable childcare and planned work can reduce daily strain

Parents say the quality of childcare matters as much as the number of places available. Reliable, flexible daycare helps both parents complete a working day without repeatedly having to rebuild their plans around urgent calls.

Companies can address the same pressure by reducing unnecessary meetings, arranging staffing to cover school events and sick days, and establishing clear handover routines. Evaluating completed work rather than time spent at a desk gives parents more room for pickups and bedtime without repeatedly requesting exceptions.

Managers can start planning parental leave when a pregnancy is announced rather than waiting until the due date. Earlier preparation gives teams time to distribute responsibilities and prepare colleagues for an absence.

Employers can also track how often teams work late and ask managers to explain increases. Allowing remote work a few days a week can reduce commuting time. Published guidance on covering leave can help a father take a month, or three, while colleagues know how the work will continue.

Training supervisors in paternity leave rules is another practical step. Simple guidance on encouraging leave, rather than merely reacting to a request, can make the process easier to use. Such changes connect the right to be absent with the staffing needed to make that absence workable.

Support must continue after leave ends

Hospitals and clinics supporting mothers after birth can also provide routes to care for fathers. Screening for paternal depression, basic counselling and support groups can sit alongside maternal services. Fathers can be invited to classes and directed toward help when anxiety, sleep difficulties or grief appear.

The early experience in Nagano suggests that explicitly welcoming fathers can help men speak about problems they might otherwise keep to themselves. Medical support needs to grow with expectations that men will take a larger share of parenting.

Policymakers can also examine tax and benefit rules so that families are not penalised when a second adult earns income. Overtime premiums can discourage long days as the routine solution to staffing needs. Public employers can test shorter weeks and days, then publish results that private companies can use.

Japan's progress will be measured in more than the percentage of fathers taking leave. The length of that leave and fathers' involvement after returning to work also matter. More lasting change would be visible in shared evening routines and teams that plan their work around the ordinary responsibilities of parenting.

The Bottom Line

• More than 40 percent of fathers took paternity leave in the last fiscal year, a record share, but many absences remained short.
• The Cabinet Office survey found that 34.1 percent of men wanted shorter working hours and more than 40 percent of both men and women wanted more family time.
• Research covering more than 27,000 families linked longer hours and commutes with less time for children.
• Shinshu University Hospital's clinic treats fathers facing depression, grief and stress around childbirth.
• Kirin's male childcare leave uptake rose from 29 percent in 2017 to 50 percent in 2021.
• Tokyo offers its staff options for a working week of four days and reduced daily hours through partial childcare leave.
• Mandatory paternity leave and higher overtime pay rates are proposals for changing workplace incentives.
• Japan recorded a fertility rate of 1.20 in 2023 and 720,988 births in 2024.
• Supportive managers, reliable childcare, planned staffing and access to mental health care are central to sustained involvement by fathers.