Introduction

Japan has developed a Parental Leave scheme that allows fathers one year of paid leave regardless of the employment status of their partner, and which has been described as ‘by far the most generous paid father-specific entitlement in the OECD’ (OECD, 2017, p.6). This is a result of frequent amendments to the leave scheme since its first implementation in 1992. Yet despite its generosity, take-up of Parental Leave by men in Japan remains low, at just over 3 per cent of all eligible fathers.

This chapter will describe the characteristics of Japan's leave policy and explore how it has developed since its inception in 1976, when leave was only for mothers in certain public sector occupations including teachers, nurses and childcare workers; it pays particular attention to the increasing emphasis on use by fathers, including an important change in 2014. The chapter will also examine political processes at different stages of policy development and the involvement of various actors within and outside the country; in particular, positions taken by these actors in policy debates, common and conflicting goals and interests, and how these have shaped policy changes. In addition to attempting to explain how and why the leave scheme was established, it will also consider why, despite the current policy's design, leavetaking by fathers in Japan is still so rare. It will conclude by considering what potential the current scheme has to promote more equal use of Parental Leave by mothers and fathers, and what conditions are needed to realise that potential.

In a comparative study of Japan and three other countries, Boling (2015) has examined the politics of work–family policies in areas such as childcare, leaves, child allowances and workplace-oriented policies, based on wide-ranging interviews. This chapter will focus specifically on Parental Leave, and draws mainly on records of discussions and negotiations, including proceedings of the National Diet (the Japanese Parliament), the Labour Policy Council (a body composed of representatives of public interests, workers and employers, offering advice on labour policies to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare), and the related research committee of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (before 2000, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Labour).