I've been looking forward to this, because I think Sho empathizes with this issue a lot, given that he's grown up in a family with a working mother.

Firstly, he visits the Hello Work center for mothers in Yokohama and talks to the ladies there. As you can see, this particular Hello Work center caters to mothers with various facilities for children.

Sho discusses the difficulties of working mothers.

Some mothers raised how they had quit their jobs in order to have children.

Sho highlights the buzzwords surrounding women at work. Among them, you can see marriage, parenting, record high, childbirth.
An interesting and very pertinent issue which the panel highlighted was the idea of paternity leave. Although Japan allows for men to take paternity leave, it is not accepted in the workplace and is generally frowned upon. When the female MC highlighted that only 2% of men take the paternity leave they were entitled to, Sho looked visibly shocked. Another panel member highlighted how he was stigmatized by his colleagues for taking paternity leave when he had work to do. It will be difficult for women to return to work unless men and society in general recognize their responsibility in parenting.
I liked this tweet which was aired during the program:
The responsibility of looking after a child lies with adults. It matters not whether they are male or female.

Firstly, he visits the Hello Work center for mothers in Yokohama and talks to the ladies there. As you can see, this particular Hello Work center caters to mothers with various facilities for children.

Sho discusses the difficulties of working mothers.

Some mothers raised how they had quit their jobs in order to have children.

Sho highlights the buzzwords surrounding women at work. Among them, you can see marriage, parenting, record high, childbirth.
An interesting and very pertinent issue which the panel highlighted was the idea of paternity leave. Although Japan allows for men to take paternity leave, it is not accepted in the workplace and is generally frowned upon. When the female MC highlighted that only 2% of men take the paternity leave they were entitled to, Sho looked visibly shocked. Another panel member highlighted how he was stigmatized by his colleagues for taking paternity leave when he had work to do. It will be difficult for women to return to work unless men and society in general recognize their responsibility in parenting.
I liked this tweet which was aired during the program:
The responsibility of looking after a child lies with adults. It matters not whether they are male or female.
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Date: 2013-07-21 05:08 pm (UTC)I remember reading this article last year and being shocked. That being said, I was asked this week whether I was sure about my career path, because it was 'unfitting for a future mother' (actual quote) because it is a) time-intensive, b) can have repercussions and c) I might end up in some random state with loads of Human Rights issues. Stigmata are ever-present here too...
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Date: 2013-07-21 05:32 pm (UTC)I knew Sho discussing politics would bait you out of lurking. *glomps*
That being said, what's your answer to the career discussion?
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Date: 2013-07-21 08:05 pm (UTC)And more importantly: It is not their bloody business!
*glomps back*
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Date: 2013-07-22 10:46 am (UTC)Thank you for this article!
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Date: 2013-07-21 05:19 pm (UTC):P
Okay, I know that Sho was raised in a family with both parents worked. Sometimes I'm curious about that, since Sho sometimes, as rebellious as he was, seems to be conservative (at least some parts of his behavior/opinion). If he's sincerely supporting working mothers, then I'm glad. He's not that conservative after all :P
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Date: 2013-07-21 05:36 pm (UTC)I can safely say I won't be subbing this. A lot of the debate flew past me (too much talking with no Japanese captions), but I don't mind typing up a recap with screenshots and translated quotes. It's an issue which deserves attention.
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Date: 2013-07-21 05:51 pm (UTC)Thank you in advance ^^
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Date: 2013-07-21 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-21 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-21 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-21 09:08 pm (UTC)It's GREAT to see an idol raise this issue - especially one who is looked up to by teen girls.
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Date: 2013-07-22 12:19 am (UTC)I was heartened to see some Arashi-related Twitters send in their thoughts about this during the program. It reminded me of why Sho continues to stay on the idol platform, it's one way to reach an audience.
Sometimes I wonder how many of the news-related stints he gets is due to his superstar status. I'm sure he's worked very, very hard to get to where he is.
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Date: 2013-07-22 10:55 am (UTC)so midnight politics talk show NTV?
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Date: 2013-07-21 09:12 pm (UTC)I was shocked when I came to Berlin & learned a working mom isn't normal for everyone... and when I look around here in Tokyo I see why it has to be higlighted as well! and I guess it's better here than anywhere else in Japan?
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Date: 2013-07-22 12:14 am (UTC)I look around my workplace and hardly see any married women with kids in managerial positions. Guess that's an answer in itself.
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Date: 2013-07-22 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-21 10:21 pm (UTC)When I pregnant with Girl, I was all determined to come back to work after maternity leave. (This was back in the day where it was only one month) I did too, only to feel that I was missing out on something in the looking after her part. My mother would call me and say ..."Oh she just did this, and that ..." ... and I really wanted to be there for all those things poops, vomit and all! Yes it is strange what motherhood does to some people. Also hubby and I had decided that we didn't want a maid either. He's an intensely private person and letting a stranger into our house was not an option.
So yes I chucked in my job. I haven't really looked back since. Times have changed and they have increased the paternal leave to three days (or more???) Even with me at home there have been times where even I need help. That's where we are lucky. Hubby works in an environment where 70% of his workplace are women, and he has a lady boss. He's rather looked on as a hero whenever he takes child leave to help or what not.
On the other hand my sister's situation is decidedly different. She works, she has a maid, her boss can be said to be evil (even though she IS a woman) and taking child leave is a kind of not the done thing. This evil lady boss is rich, has probably more than one servant for each child and expects that every woman should aspire to be like her. Her mentality is that "I did it so can you". My sister's hubby has an easier time taking leave. Funnily enough, he works for a Japanese company, and taking child leave is definitely ok. It's interesting how some Japanese companies run differently on foreign soil than in Japan. I wonder why they don't have similar policies for their local offices.
I do say though it's not for every woman to chuck her job and look after children. It works for some and doesn't for others. Some women might need a different environment to stay sane. Looking after children, by yourself isn't easy. I do take my hat of to women who can do both. I just chose not to do so. That being said ... I like the way that my family life has turned out, I love the way my relationship with my children has so far turned out and I'm blessed by how my children have turned out.
In Singapore ... it is getting harder to 'have it all', my sister herself has had mountains of sagas, alone where having a maid is concerned, there are parents who have no option but to still send in their children to day care (with hand foot and mouth - end result being that 4 adults and 11 other children caused it and thus causing shut down of the centre itself) and in the end they still had to take parental leave. Yeah the mind set has to change. Especially if they want more people to have babies .
And uhhh sorry ... long comment is long.
It's lovely to see the boys tackling the harder issues.
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Date: 2013-07-21 11:51 pm (UTC)I've had friends who grew up with barely cordial relationships with their mothers, so I never understood why these women sought to establish families. But hey, we need youngsters who can pay the taxes when single people grow old and retire.
Speaking of the other boys, it greatly annoyed me when Aiba mentioned on a talk show that he expects his wife to be literally one step behind. Dude! Learn from your buddy Sakurai please.
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Date: 2013-07-22 10:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-26 03:46 pm (UTC)Then again if I did there isn't a lot I could do about it I think I'm past the idol stalking age. ^__^ although my girl is totally up for it. Hehehe!
I hope he gets some down time from work as well as crazy fangirls.
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Date: 2016-08-31 01:59 pm (UTC)Have a great week!
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