Photo/Illutration Yoshiyuki Miyabe, chairperson of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives, holds a baby doll in his arms in Osaka on Oct. 7. (Kazuhito Suwa)

OSAKA—Instead of soothing employees, male company executives here on Oct. 7 were tasked with calming crying babies and other typical child care duties.

The Kansai Association of Corporate Executives held a housework and child care seminar to encourage business leaders to create work environments conducive to raising children.

Yoshiyuki Miyabe, 66, executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings Corp., and Seiji Nagai, 66, executive vice president of Obayashi Corp. (both association chairpersons), practiced child care on baby dolls alongside other association members.

The experience encouraged them to consider ways that companies and society can accommodate the needs of workers who are raising children.

The seminar was founded by Rieko Ueda, 62. She is a member of the association and the president of a company that dispatches baby-sitting and housekeeping services.

“For women to fully exercise their abilities outside their households, it is essential for men to actively participate in household responsibilities,” Ueda said at the seminar. “Please experience child care and use this to enhance communication with younger employees.”

About a dozen participants were divided into four groups and began caring for crying baby dolls.

The dolls are designed to stop crying when they receive the care they need.

Yasuhiro Kozaki, 56, a day care teacher and a professor at Osaka Kyoiku University, gave the participants tips in advance, but their task wasn’t easy.

Nagai held the doll in his arms while desperately playing peek-a-boo over and over.

Other attendees also struggled to stop their baby dolls from crying while giving them milk and changing their diapers.

“I didn’t do these things for my daughter over 30 years ago, but I cradled my grandchildren from the time they were newborns,” Miyabe reflected.

According to labor ministry statistics, 30.1 percent of male employees working for private companies took child care leave in fiscal 2023—a significant increase from the 17.1 percent the year prior.

Meanwhile, the percentage of female employees who take child care leave consistently exceeds 80 percent.

“We need to take bold measures to make it easier to take child care leave,” Miyabe said.

The housework and child care seminar on Oct. 7 was the second in the series. In the first, held in October last year, the participants learned to cook.

At that time, Keiji Kakumoto, 62, then chairperson of the association and deputy president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., and other members made Japanese meat and potato stew and mushrooms seasoned with sesame sauce.

“The mindset of younger people about household responsibilities is different from that of the older generation," Ueda said. "Since I hope corporate executives will understand child care and housework better through hands-on experiences, I’ll continue to hold this seminar.”

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