Japanese bachelors learn the art of parenting to help find wives

By
Web Desk
|

TOKYO: Japanese bachelors looking for love can now learn child-rearing skills to boost their chances of finding a partner.

The new, 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, says Ikumen University, the Osaka-based company behind the course.

Participants in one session on Sunday in the Japanese capital wore a 7-kg (15-pound) pregnancy jacket, were taught how to improve communication with a potential spouse and filled out a worksheet stating traits women were deemed to dislike in men.

"I wanted to create a form of certification proving a man´s child-rearing skills and support for married life," course instructor Takeshi Akiyama told Reuters. "Matchmaking agencies can advertise such men as having ´extra value,´ by letting potential partners know he will support the marriage.