Old-world customs are quickly falling out of favor in Japan.
Men and women no longer fall along typical gender lines of bread-winning and child-rearing. Instead, today's Japanese women are delaying marriage for their careers, while the country's bachelors are expected to lean into family life.
In 2010, the government launched the Ikumen Project, a campaign meant to teach single men the art of fatherhood and help them find wives. The name ikumen comes from a term coined by advertisers to describe men who take an active role in raising their children.
In a new workshop, put on by the Osaka-based company Ikumen University, men put on weight suits, change diapers on dolls, and learn what it takes to be a dad. Here's a look inside.
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Fertility rates in Japan have been alarmingly low for years, primarily because people are losing interest in starting families.
Relationships may be in trouble, too. A new survey of people 18 to 34 years old found almost 70% of unmarried men and 60% of unmarried women aren't in a romantic relationship.
Ikumen University wants to encourage men to re-enter the dating pool by showing them how rewarding fatherhood can be.
"I wanted to create a form of certification proving a man's child-rearing skills and support for married life," course instructor Takeshi Akiyama told Reuters.
The all-male course includes instruction on bathing and changing babies, and provides a simulation of what life is like as a pregnant woman.
Akiyama wants to help men offer a new perspective on adulthood and give them a leg up when searching for a partner.
"Matchmaking agencies can advertise such men as having 'extra value,' by letting potential partners know he will support the marriage," he told Reuters.
In Japanese, the term "ikumen" refers to men who participate in child-rearing activities — a relatively new concept in the country.
In 2010, when Japan launched the Ikumen Project, four fathers were selected as "the stars of ikumen."
They were heralded as role models of the way men should play with their kids and teach them valuable skills like reading and writing.
The Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry also set up a page on the Ikumen Project website for declarations from ikumen about the joys of fatherhood.
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