Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Shinjiro Koizumi, son of an ex-prime minister, said he hopes to open debate on issue that remains sensitive in Japan. Koizumi told reporters, according to CNN: "My paternity leave is being reported heavily in the news but I hope that [in the future] we will have a society where a politician's paternity leave doesn't make the news. Asics denies the allegations. ", Japanese woman in a metro carriage.

He told the couple when they announced their marriage that everybody “should try matrimony once.” — Reuters, Japan minister becomes first to announce paternity leave, Paternity leave: Gender stigma about men who care and why we should — Tan Theng Theng, MEF urged to reconsider number of days given for paternity leave.

"So many other men are facing this same conflict, of wanting to take leave but being unable to do so.". With Japan facing an ageing population and a dwindling birthrate, the government recently began promoting paternity leave. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Koizumi, son of charismatic former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and seen as a future leader himself, said on Wednesday he was planning to take two weeks of leave over three months, in an effort to become a role model for Japan’s working fathers.

Issei Kato/Reuters, Koizumi said he decided to take paternity leave to encourage other men to take time off. There are no official records on whether cabinet ministers have previously taken parental leave, but Koizumi is the first to publicly announce he is doing so. “This is the first time for a minister to take paternity leave, and whenever you do something unprecedented, criticism is always inherent,” he said. Account active

Koizumi said he hopes that his unprecedented decision will pave the way for normalising the subject. He said he chose to take time off within the first three months of childbirth because that is the toughest time for new mothers. The child is due later this month, according to the BBC. Japan has relatively generous parental leave policies, allowing men and women partially paid leave of up to 12 months. Koizumi said he decided to take paternity leave to encourage other men to take time off. “Today, January 17th midnight, as a father, I am glad and relieved that a healthy boy was born,” Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.

... far short of the government’s modest 13 percent target for 2020. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to encourage more men to take paternity leave, and for businesses to allow a better work-life balance, as part of his “Womenomics” programme of bolstering women’s employment.