That sounds like a bit of an improvement since I was there. At that time, women were not even given the chance to be on the career path, because it was assumed that they would quit when they started a family.

We had two children when I was in Japan, and the prenatal care was pretty good. The births themselves were not great examples of medical care, I have to say. Still, it’s normal for women in Japan to stay in the hospital a week after a typical birth. I suspect that’s because if they went home, they would still have to do all the housework.