Author: Seiichi Sato | Editor-in-Chief, TamagoDaruma

Reluctance to go to daycare after Golden Week tends to surface at a time when both child and parent are already carrying a lot. Before anything else, don’t blame yourself — break the morning down into small, separate steps. The first morning after Golden Week, your child breaks down in tears at the front door. You couldn’t even get their socks on. The clock keeps moving, even though nothing else seems to. Holding back the urge to say “hurry up,” inside, you feel like crying too. After Golden Week — Japan’s run of national holidays in late April and early…

If you looked at your payslip and thought “What is this child and childcare support levy? Isn’t this supposed to be a benefit? Why is more being taken out of my pay?”, your reaction is completely understandable. Several official programs in Japan share the word “childcare” (kosodate) in their names, and the overlap is genuinely confusing. This article sorts out the difference between the child and childcare support levy (kodomo kosodate shienkin) and the benefits families can receive, such as the child allowance (jidō teate), Tokyo’s 018 Support, and various childcare support payments. By the end, you’ll be able to…

If you’ve been going back and forth on whether to give your child a smartphone, you’re not alone. “Maybe it’s too soon” and “maybe I’m being overprotective” — most parents find themselves caught between both feelings at once, looking for an answer that doesn’t quite come. This article focuses on what to think through before you get to device comparisons and carrier plans — specifically: putting into words why you’re giving your child a phone, building rules together as a family, and creating a family approach that keeps communication open after your child starts using the phone. Before choosing a…

“We didn’t get a spot at hoikuen, Japan’s licensed daycare system.” “I’m working from home but can’t get anything done with a toddler around.” “I only need a few hours this afternoon — where do I even start?” These are real, pressing problems that many families in Japan face on a regular basis. There are several ways to arrange childcare outside of standard licensed daycare enrollment: drop-in daycare at a facility (ichiji azukari), babysitting services, the municipal Family Support Center program, commonly shortened in Japanese to “Famisapo,” and the newly launched Universal Preschool Access Program (Kodomo Dare Demo Tsuen), which…

Have you ever stood in the kitchen, phone in hand, searching “can my baby eat this yet?” — only to find five different answers from five different sources? There’s no shortage of weaning information online, but it’s rarely gathered in one place by age, texture, and quantity. So you end up searching the same foods over and over. And sometimes what you find on parenting blogs or in older baby books doesn’t quite match the most current guidelines. This article is a reference guide — not a recipe collection — built around Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)…

When you book your first daycare visit, it’s easy to wonder: what exactly am I supposed to be looking for? You may have read the brochure, browsed the website, and still walked away with nothing more than a vague sense that the place seemed nice. That experience is more common than you might think. A daycare visit — often referred to in Japanese as hoikuen kengaku, meaning a visit or tour of a licensed daycare center (hoikuen) — is not just a facilities check. It is your chance to get a feel for the environment where your child will spend…

Many of the examples in this guide come from Japanese nursery and home play traditions, but the ideas can be adapted for families and educators anywhere. Have you ever stood in front of your child, completely unsure what to do next — or found yourself falling back on the same routine, day after day? Fingerplay songs — simple songs with hand motions, gestures, and playful repetition — ask nothing of you except your voice and your hands. No props, no prep, no special space. But it’s still easy to feel stuck: What should I sing? Is this right for their…

When your child looks up at you and says “I really want to play Poco a Pokémon!” — how do you respond? You might think, “It’s Pokémon, so it’s probably fine,” while quietly wondering whether they’ll get too hooked on it, or whether schoolwork will start to slip. Both reactions are completely reasonable. Poco a Pokémon (ぽこ あ ポケモン) launched worldwide on March 5, 2026, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. Within just four days of release, it had sold 2.2 million copies globally — including 1 million in Japan alone, making it one of the most talked-about titles in households…

Has your child suddenly declared a favorite “Happilinafriends” character, and you have no idea what that is? Or maybe you’ve heard the Sanrio Character Ranking is doing something different this year and want to understand what’s changed. If so, you’re not alone. In late March 2026, Sanrio launched a new character project called Happilinafriends (ハッピリーナフレンズ). Ten brand-new characters debuted at once, designed with children in the early years of elementary school in mind. Through April and into spring, a wave of related events follows — a dedicated voting division, merchandise releases, and a McDonald’s Japan Happy Set collaboration happening at…

“If you’re not working, you can’t use a nursery.” — That assumption is still common among many parents in Japan. But from April 2026, that premise has started to shift. With the full national rollout of the Kodomo Daredemo Tsuen program — Japan’s universal nursery access program — children aged six months to under three years can now attend licensed childcare facilities for up to 10 hours per month, regardless of whether their parents are employed. For families raising young children at home who want the occasional break, for parents who’d like their child to experience group care before nursery…

Getting a rejection notice in the mail — that moment when your mind goes completely blank. Many parents in Japan know exactly what that feels like. After months of preparing for an April return to work, the disappointment hits hard. But there are real next steps available, even after a rejection. Secondary application rounds, unlicensed childcare facilities, temporary nursery services, babysitter subsidies, parental leave extension — knowing which options exist, and in what order to pursue them, can help you move from that initial shock to a concrete plan. This guide pulls together everything you need to do between receiving…

If your child has suddenly started using words you’ve never heard before, you’re not alone. “Brain rot,” “noob,” “Tung Tung Tung Sahur” — when phrases like these start coming out of nowhere, the first question most parents have is: “Should I be worried?” A lot of this language traces back to Roblox, the game platform that has become part of everyday life for elementary-school-age kids around the world. That said, Roblox is rarely the only source — YouTube gameplay videos and TikTok are just as much a part of how this language spreads. This guide breaks down the slang, memes,…