Men in aprons versus men in suits: Reshaping masculinities within a Japanese nonprofit promoting fatherhood

Abstract

One of the most influential nonprofit organizations in Japan’s contemporary parenting movement, Fathering Japan has a mission to “increase the number of smiling fathers” and to eliminate obstacles that prevent fathers from participating in family life, which the nonprofit promotes as an enjoyable and fulfilling sphere of activity. Fathering Japan encourages fathers of young children to break with the practices of previous generations of Japanese fathers—who generally eschewed domestic labor—by practicing masculinities that engage actively in child care in ways that lessen women’s workloads and help to raise Japan’s low birthrate. Yet many of the nonprofit’s projects cater to the needs of suit-wearing men pursuing Japan’s traditional heteronormative lifestyles. In contrast, within Fathering Japan, members of the subgroup called the Secret Society, “The Househusband’s Friend,” don aprons and engage in play and parody that both problematize and reaffirm the links among masculinity, work, and family.