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Japan wrestles with its views on ‘outside people’ amid population crisis
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Japan is totally fine with foreigners ... if you're western. Otherwise you can GTFO.
That's not exactly true. They're fine with you being their temporarily, even for a few years. Try to raise a family there and that consideration goes away.
I raise a family here and I've only ever been treated nicely.
I would say sexism is a bigger issue here. As a man I was not allow to witness the birth of my child.
If my child is hospitalized, as a man I have to pay for a private room because women want to breastfeed in the free common rooms, and most public rooms for feeding babies (even just bottles) are women only.
Some diaper stations are also only located in the women's bathrooms or if I'm lucky, the handicap bathrooms.
Want to say that my personal experience nearly matches yours. I was allowed in the birthing room and held my wife’s hand as she gave birth. I was allowed to hold my son for approximately 30 seconds. Then I was kicked out of the hospital and not allowed to return for over a week. I was also expected to be back at work pretty much immediately.
Finding changing rooms I can use is definitely a trial. I typically assume I won’t be able to find one, and if my wife isn’t with me I plan to use the backseat of my car or similar arrangement.
The hoikuen workers (approximately translates to daycare, if you don’t know) don’t talk to me when I pick up my son, which is nearly every day. On the rare opportunity that my wife’s schedule allows her to get him, they won’t stop talking about every detail.
Yeah, gender roles are pretty fixed, and challenging said roles is hard.