Adult swaddling therapy may help mothers overcome post-labor pain
Wrapped up from head to toe in a white bag and gently rocking from side to side, five Japanese mothers are hopeful Tokyo's latest health trend can cure their post-pregnancy aches and pains. According to its exponents, otonamaki, which translates as "adult wrapping," was devised ...
Don't let winter stop you from going out
It's the coldest part of the year in Japan. Combine frigid weather with cramped apartments, rambunctious kids and a dose of cabin fever and you have a parent's recipe for frustration. However, in Tokyo there are countless options for indoor family fun, and with ...
My 4-year-old daughter's eyes light up when she spies something sitting on the work table. Unlike her normal playtime preferences, it is not a rainbow-haired unicorn, felt tip pens or a plastic doll that has caught her attention — it's an industrial looking electric ...
Family debate: same-sex parents?
With LGBT relationships starting to be recognized by authorities, questions are now being asked about whether such couples should have children.
Japanese bachelors learn the art of parenting to help find wives
Bachelors looking for love can now learn child-rearing skills to boost their chances of finding a partner. The all-male ikumen course teaches men how to bathe and dress a baby and also helps them understand a woman's perspective on child-rearing, according to Ikumen University, the ...
Hiking with kids is not an uphill climb
Hiking in Japan is always fun with family, and with summer subsiding, some of the best months for a mountain walk are around the corner. Japan offers countless choices in its vast mountain ranges, but one of my favorite family hikes is only 90 ...
South Koreans are likely to have fewer weddings and babies this year than ever before, part of a demographic shift that risks hobbling the nation's economy. The number of marriages and births recorded during the first five months of 2016 hit the lowest levels for ...
'Peanuts' can be a treat for adults, too
There is one precise moment when I question the wisdom of taking my two young daughters to visit the Snoopy Museum in Tokyo's Roppongi district. It comes as my 2-year-old kicks her shoes off and makes a barefoot beeline for a fire extinguisher in the ...
Test the white waters this summer
As much as I love Japan's major cities, I quite enjoy leaving them as well. Places like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto have played crucial roles in my family's life, but it has been equally important for the four of us to get out of ...
Sweet times at Tokyo's monster cafe
Maybe it is Nasty's electric blue hair, cascading in braids around her doll-like face. Perhaps it is the gothic-style black lipstick of her friend Candy. Or the surreal fabric limbs sewn onto the dress of lilac-haired Baby. Whatever the reason, my 1-year-old daughter stares at ...
Case of missing boy receives mix of sympathy and criticism from residents, experts
Japan let out a sigh of relief Friday after a 7-year-old Hokkaido boy was found alive following an intensive six-day search by hundreds of police, firefighters and Self-Defense Force troops. But the case has spurred intense debate about parenting norms and the often murky line ...
Countryside Chiba farms out the fun
If you're raising children in Japan, then there's a good chance that, like me, you are raising city kids — children who are more comfortable in an urban setting than a rural one, whether it's in downtown Tokyo or suburban Kobe. For me, bringing up ...
