From: Ibata-Arens, Kathryn (KIBATAAR@depaul.edu)
Date: 2013/01/25

> Japan's childcare infrastructure is possibly the
worst in the industrial world.

On what basis is this claim made? Has the author actually used "Japan's childcare infrastructure?"

I have for two children born 2000 and 2003. I thought the public daycare facilities good to excellent. My younger son continues to use public after-school facilities (gakudo hoiku). Again I would rate these as good to excellent. I have often thought that I was fortunate to have had my children in Japan rather than Britain.

To be sure, there are problems and there is regional variation within Japan. The problems and regional variation are issues that I take up in a course that I teach in Japanese to Japanese college students on the very subject of "the Japanese childcare system in international perspective." Aside from my personal experience, I can say that on the basis of my preparation for this course and projects done by my students, the Japanese system is at least good in comparative perspective relative to countries that have national systems and vastly superior to countries such as the US that have no national childcare infrastructure whatsoever.

And, just for the record, which countries are included in "the industrial world?" I presume this includes Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, etc. as well Korea, Brazil, China, etc. Have you or whoever originally made the quoted claim actually compared "Japan's childcare infrastructure" with the entire universe of countries in "the industrial world?" The results of such a comparison would, I think, point to a very different conclusion. And, as I explain to my students when I introduce my course, "You may wonder why there is nothing about the United States in this course. The answer is simple. The US has no national system of childcare provision."

For those not up on this issue, I would suggest that the main problems with public childcare in Japan are
(1) a shortage of places in >some< areas and (2) a limited number of facilities that can care for children who are ill. The shortage of places is primarily a big city problem and is largely for the 0-3 age group because of the high ratio of statf to children that is required. For children of school age, the main problem is a shortage of places for children in grades 1-3.

EHK