--- title: Japan Governors Wore Pregnancy Vests description: Three male Japanese governors donned pregnancy vests to urge the country's men to carry more of the weight at home. canonical: https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-03T19:08:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:30.458Z og:title: Here's Why Male Japanese Politicians Wore Pregnancy Vests og:description: It has something to do with the challenges the country's working mothers face og:url: https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ae47711185abf/6988a8708e06010d33467b45/japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1365 og:image:height: 768 og:image:alt: japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why Male Japanese Politicians Wore Pregnancy Vests twitter:description: It has something to do with the challenges the country's working mothers face twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ae47711185abf/6988a8708e06010d33467b45/japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Male Politicians in Japan Wore Pregnancy Vests > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=8e08af5c-20d5-4ca3-8927-59d1cb52b749&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1)  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Oct 3, 2016 7:08 PM UTC  Screenshot  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Oct 3, 2016 7:08 PM UTC Three male Japanese governors donned pregnancy vests to urge the country’s men to carry more of the weight at home. A [2014 study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development](http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/balancingpaidworkunpaidworkandleisure.htm) found that Japanese women do about five hours of [housework](http://motto.time.com/4476447/see-where-in-the-world-guys-do-the-least-housework/?iid=sr-link1) a day, while Japanese men only do one hour a day. The country has also been criticized for [not accommodating working mothers](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/03/14/japan-gets-message-working-moms-complaint-goes-viral/81764680/), with [nearly 70% of women](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21880124) leaving the workforce after giving birth to their first child. So, three Japanese governors partnered with Kyushu Yamaguchi Work Life Promotion Campaign to produce a video to encourage Japanese men to [help out their wives at home](http://motto.time.com/4378502/yes-couples-who-share-chores-have-more-sex/?iid=sr-link2). In the video, Miyazaki Prefecture Governor Shunji Kōno, Yamaguchi Prefecture Governor Tsugumasa Muraoka and Saga Prefecture Governor Yoshinori Yamaguchi wear 7.3 kg pregnancy vests meant to simulate a pregnancy in the third trimester, and struggle with ordinary tasks, like putting on socks and carrying groceries home. The video ends with a message encouraging the country’s men to adopt a more sustainable work-life balance. [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ “I really didn’t understand,” Muraoka said in the video, [according to the Japan _Times_](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/30/national/social-issues/japan-governors-wear-pregnancy-vests-urge-men-help-home/#.V%5FJyNpMrLOQ). “Now that I understand what my wife put up with for so many months, I’m full of gratitude.” But of course, many Japanese mothers say the country needs to do more to [improve their conditions](http://motto.time.com/4275616/creating-inclusive-workplace/?iid=sr-link3). Earlier this year, Japanese women [publicly called on the country’s prime minister](http://time.com/4258530/japan-day-care-shinzo-abe/) to improve the country’s strained public daycare system, which was plagued with long waitlists that prevented mothers from securing spots for their children so they could return to work. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [then pledged to makea number of changes aimed at improving](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/26/reference/plan-fix-day-care-crunch-belies-decades-pent-demand/#.V%5FJ6n5MrLOQ) the country’s daycare system. \[[The Japan _Times_](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/30/national/social-issues/japan-governors-wear-pregnancy-vests-urge-men-help-home/#.V%5FJyNpMrLOQ)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/"},"headline":"Male Politicians in Japan Wore Pregnancy Vests","datePublished":"2016-10-03T19:08:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:30.458Z","description":"It has something to do with the challenges the country's working mothers face","url":"https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ae47711185abf/6988a8708e06010d33467b45/japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ae47711185abf/6988a8708e06010d33467b45/japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"japanese-politicians-pregnancy-vests","caption":"","creditText":"Screenshot","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4516562/japan-governors-pregnancy-vests-worklife-balance/","name":"Male Politicians in Japan Wore Pregnancy Vests"}}]}] ```