On Wednesday 4 November, Kyoto University's Tokyo Office presented the fourth and final installment of its 19th lecture series, "Families: Where Are They Headed?", organized as part of the Tokyo de Manabu Kyoto no Chi ("Learning in Tokyo About the Latest from Kyoto") program.
Delivered by Professor Norio Hisamoto of the Graduate School of Government, the talk addressed the question of "Work-Life Balance: Who Should Take Responsibility -- the Family or Society?"
Professor Hisamoto shared his view that all activities which involve responsibility, including those that do not generate income, such as volunteering and parenting, should be regarded as "work", and he noted that past discussions on work-life balance had tended to ignore this point. He then suggested that, rather than seeking to balance "work" against "life", we need to try balancing one type of work against another; that is, what our employers expect from us against what our family members expect from us, an example of the latter being parenting.
He also discussed topics such as Japan as a "society of employees", the changing form of the family, and the current employment situation, citing international data on birth rates, marriage, and working hours and overtime. In conclusion, he suggested that accommodating diverse work styles while giving special consideration to the needs of full-time working couples is key to addressing the declining birth rate and achieving gender equality, leading members of the audience to reflect deeply on the issue of "work style".
Lecture venue
Professor Hisamoto delivering his lecture
