would affect our sales," Nakai said.

Even though the idea met resistance from elderly company officials, the president said he brushed off their concerns as "groundless," believing it was just based on their traditional values centered on gender divisions of labor.

Takashi Omura, a 39-year-old worker at a Sekisui House branch in Saitama Prefecture who took one month of leave after his second child was born, said at the event he began preparations to share his workload with colleagues two months in advance, but that his worries were unnecessary.



(Takashi Omura watches his children do the washing up.)

[Photo courtesy of Sekisui House Ltd.]

"My colleagues managed to make up for the absence and after returning to the office, our communications got smoother," said Omura, chief of the branch's back office section.

"During theProposed rules show how Oklahoma might regulate medical marijuana if voters approve State Question 788

Jackie Fortiér Bio Recent Stories Jackie is StateImpact Oklahoma's health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and National Public Radio, Jackie covers health in Oklahoma and the health care industry for local and national audiences. She has many journalism awards to her name during her years of multi-media reporting in Colorado and was part of a team recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists with a Sigma Delta Chi award for excellence in breaking news reporting in 2013. She is a former young professional fellow of the Journalism and Women's Symposium, and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and a lifetime member of Kappa Tau Alpha,