In this essay, I am going to talk about the family relationships in Japan from the perspective of my father. From his experience, it can be said that the family relationships in Japan have been changed greatly so far, and more and more men began to do housework these days.
Both of my parents work. While my mother works at the office, my father works at home as an architect. As a result, since I was a little girl, my father has done almost all the housework while working. He goes to the supermarket, makes food for us, look after me, or pick me up at the station; my grandmother who lives nearby sometimes helps him, though.
Considering that this was in the 90’s, our family style might be quite different from those of other Japanese people. Indeed, my father told me much later that he seldom saw men who were doing shopping at the supermarket like him in those days. To me, too, this family style was sort of embarrassing because I somehow knew that we were different, compared with those of my friends who sometimes asked me “Why isn’t your mom at home?”, “Why is your dad at home?” This indicates that usually in those days, women did housework while men worked.
As I got older, however, my father told me that he saw much more men at the supermarket gradually than before. This surely indicates that more and more men began to do housework for their wives. Indeed, I got to know that there were various kinds of family relationships other than mine, and all of them could be considered as normal. I got to know some women who decided not to marry, some married couples who decided not to have a child, and some men who decided to do housework.
In conclusion, as the comments of my father indicate, more and more men began to do housework more. This change may be influenced by the situations in that more and more women began to work. More and more women now think that it is quite normal for both women and men to work, earn, and live their lives equally.
Both of my parents work. While my mother works at the office, my father works at home as an architect. As a result, since I was a little girl, my father has done almost all the housework while working. He goes to the supermarket, makes food for us, look after me, or pick me up at the station; my grandmother who lives nearby sometimes helps him, though.
Considering that this was in the 90’s, our family style might be quite different from those of other Japanese people. Indeed, my father told me much later that he seldom saw men who were doing shopping at the supermarket like him in those days. To me, too, this family style was sort of embarrassing because I somehow knew that we were different, compared with those of my friends who sometimes asked me “Why isn’t your mom at home?”, “Why is your dad at home?” This indicates that usually in those days, women did housework while men worked.
As I got older, however, my father told me that he saw much more men at the supermarket gradually than before. This surely indicates that more and more men began to do housework for their wives. Indeed, I got to know that there were various kinds of family relationships other than mine, and all of them could be considered as normal. I got to know some women who decided not to marry, some married couples who decided not to have a child, and some men who decided to do housework.
In conclusion, as the comments of my father indicate, more and more men began to do housework more. This change may be influenced by the situations in that more and more women began to work. More and more women now think that it is quite normal for both women and men to work, earn, and live their lives equally.
