Photo/Illutration Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai, left, gives his first grandchild, Harutaka, milk from a bottle July 5 at a feeding room installed in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture. (Natsuki Midorikawa)

SENDAI--Miyagi Prefecture is moving to blaze a trail with a leave system that will allow staff members with grandchildren to take days off to care for the offspring of their sons and daughters.

Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai, citing the growing number of husbands and wives working together, said Oct. 3 the action plan will take effect in January at the earliest.

“Grandfathers, grandmothers and others should actively engage in raising grandchildren, so they can provide support for families with small kids,” Murai told a regularly scheduled news conference.

The envisioned special leave framework will be the first of its kind among Japan’s 47 prefectures, according to the Miyagi prefectural authorities. Officials are now working out details of how the system will operate.

The local government submitted an ordinance amendment to the current prefectural assembly session to raise the standard retirement age of its staff members from 60 to 65, when authorities reckon there is a higher chance of workers at the prefectural office becoming grandparents.

“I expect private companies to consider a similar approach as well,” Murai said. “We will be creating an environment where all members of society will be able to offer assistance for growing children.”

Behind the decision is Murai’s personal regret over his own child-rearing.

“I was then busy working as a prefectural assemblyman, so I did not play a large role,” he said. “With a deep sense of remorse, I want to commit myself to caring for my grandchildren instead.”

Prior to the new system’s introduction, Murai took leave between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, partially straddling a three-day holiday weekend, to look after his second grandchild born in late September.

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