Masaya Kurita, a 31-year-old bachelor living in Tokyo, cradles a plastic baby, gives it a gentle wash in a small basin, and places it back down on a neatly folded towel.
He has no partner and no baby on the way, but has opted into a male-only 'ikumen' - or child-rearing - course, hoping it will better his chances in finding a life-long partner.
The course on Sunday (September 18) was organised by Osaka-based company, Ikumen University, with the explicit aim of helping bachelors actively seeking partners portray themselves as marriage-worthy. Ikumen is a term that combines the word 'men' with 'iku', which means 'nurture' in Japanese.
"During the self-reflection part of the course I realised I had a tendency to hide my weaknesses or true feelings. I hope to be able to show my more vulnerable side after this," said Kurita, who has spent the past half year looking for a marriage partner through matchmaking agencies.
The course involves learning how to bathe and dress a baby, as well as how to - what the course organisers say - understand a woman's perspective on child-rearing through exercises such as wearing a seven kilogram pregnancy jacket, the company says.
Participants were also taught how to improve spousal communication, and were asked to fill out a worksheet stating traits women were deemed to dislike in men.
Japan's male-only 'ikumen' (child-rearing) courses offer participants hope of finding a life-long partner. Source: Reuters
Like Kurita, Yuji Inoue, 42, is also looking for a lifelong companion.
"Men must work, this is an age-old value of Japan. Men have to feed the women, so that is what I set out to do, and I've been working very hard," Inoue said. "But somewhere along the line, work got more fun (than dating), and that became all I did. Until I suddenly realised my age, and thought I had to do something about (my singlehood)."
Inoue is one of many young men in Japan, known for its male-centric work force, who have placed marriage on the backseat.
A recent survey of Japanese people aged between 18 and 34, conducted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security, showed that almost 70 per cent of unmarried men and 60 per cent of unmarried women were single.
On top of that, data published by the Ministry of Labor showed that men who did tie the knot rarely took paternity leave, tipping much of the burden of child-rearing onto women.
Only 2.65 per cent of men took paternity leave in Japan during the fiscal year of 2015, a far cry from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's goal of 13 per cent by 2020.
Though the ikumen course explicitly targets bachelors, 35-year-old Takashi Tayama, a married man, also took part, saying he was looking for ways to prepare himself for fatherhood.
Japan's male-only 'ikumen' (child-rearing) courses offer participants hope of finding a life-long partner. Source: Reuters
"There aren't many (men who are involved in child-rearing in Japan)," he said. "The main reason for that is the concern that you won't be able to get back into the working field after you have taken paternity leave. I personally think it is necessary for the company side to change its system to accommodate such men."
The head of Ikumen University and the course instructor, Takeshi Akiyama, who became a father at the age of 17, felt that marriage statistics would improve if both parties showed mutual support toward marriage and child-raising.
"I wanted to create a form of certification proving a man's child-rearing skills and support for married life. Matchmaking agencies can advertise such men as having 'extra value,' by letting potential partners know he will support the marriage," said Akiyama. "I think we need to change the Japanese mindset of men equal work, and women equal child-rearing."
The day-long Ikumen course was the first of its kind to be held in Tokyo and was priced at 30,000 yen ($390AUD).
