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Ikumen: How Japan’s ‘hunky dads’ are changing parenting

A government programme has tried to make fatherhood cool and sexy. Has it succeeded?

Click to view the original at bbc.com

Hasnain says:

“Japan, of course, was not alone in these views. But even in the 1980s the average man spent fewer than 40 minutes interacting with their children on the average workday – and that was often during a family meal. According to one observational study, some men could not even make tea or locate their own clothes without their wife’s assistance. When the father did interact with his children, he was often remote and commanded respect, even fear – a fact reflected in the common saying “jishin, kaminari, kaji, oyaji” – “earthquake, thunder, fire and father”.”

Posted on 2025-07-13T23:43:26+0000