0:00:00.000,0:00:02.340 This is a day in the life of a Japanese housewife. 0:00:19.990,0:00:25.320 This is Tomomi, a 38-year-old housewife living in Tokyo with her husband and daughter. 0:00:25.539,0:00:28.018 And this is how she starts her day. 0:00:29.920,0:00:34.200 Oh, and this is Tomomi's daughter, Karin. She's about to turn three years old. 0:00:34.200,0:00:38.249 You may have noticed earlier that they were all sleeping in the same bed. In Japan, 0:00:38.250,0:00:42.660 it's common for children before elementary school to sleep with their parents in the same bed. 0:00:47.590,0:00:53.819 And that's Tomomi's husband. He works as a freelancer and has a meeting this morning, so he's in a bit of a hurry. 0:00:55.390,0:01:00.509 As a Japanese housewife, it's Tomomi's first task to prepare breakfast. In Japan, 0:01:00.510,0:01:04.680 it's typical to prepare miso soup as it's a traditional Japanese breakfast dish. 0:01:05.199,0:01:10.438 So they live in a 2LDK apartment, meaning two bedrooms, living, dining, and kitchen. In their second room 0:01:10.440,0:01:12.865 they even have a kamidana which is a mini shrine. 0:01:12.865,0:01:17.320 Every morning Tomomi's husband follows a traditional Japanese custom of changing the water 0:01:17.640,0:01:20.320 providing an offering and then praying. 0:01:21.580,0:01:25.160 It looks like Karin's already watching Japanese children's shows on YouTube. 0:01:25.540,0:01:31.349 Apparently it's pretty common these days in Japan to allow kids to stream their favorite content on their mobile devices. 0:01:31.350,0:01:35.250 And in fact, this is Karin's own phone, which is one of her parents older devices. 0:01:40.020,0:01:46.669 So they're eating gomoku umami, which is an assorted stir-fried dish leftover from last night and natto miso soup and rice. 0:01:47.010,0:01:49.069 It's also typical to eat natto, 0:01:49.070,0:01:55.130 a fermented soy bean for breakfast in Japan. And since kids start eating it from when they're babies, they learn to love it. 0:01:58.230,0:02:00.529 It's customary in Japan to say itadakimasu 0:02:00.930,0:02:04.130 before every meal which loosely means "thank you for the meal". 0:02:04.300,0:02:09.180 Parents will ingrain this custom in their children as soon as they start eating normal food. 0:02:11.200,0:02:11.700 Uh oh 0:02:11.740,0:02:18.460 She's not supposed to watch YouTube during meals, but she couldn't help but tap that play button. Tomomi, does she often watch YouTube? 0:02:26.040,0:02:31.819 It's important for Tomomi and her husband to teach Karin proper eating manners but it looks like Karin's picking up quickly. 0:02:32.610,0:02:34.610 When did she start using chopsticks? 0:02:38.540,0:02:45.120 To help kids learn how to use chopsticks these days, some are given practice ones like this and help hold the chopsticks in place. 0:03:04.440,0:03:06.660 How long does it take you to wear makeup? 0:03:07.900,0:03:09.260 How old are you? 0:03:10.680,0:03:12.680 Are you really one? 0:03:15.860,0:03:20.980 I guess she's still a little shy so in a couple months Karin starts Youchien which means 0:03:21.209,0:03:26.358 Kindergarten. This is usually between the ages of three and five just before elementary school. In Japan, 0:03:26.359,0:03:33.469 there's also less formal nursery schools called Hoikuen intended for working parents, which accept children from zero to five years old, 0:03:33.470,0:03:39.019 but since Tomomi is a full-time housewife, it would be difficult for her daughter to enroll. In fact, in Tokyo, 0:03:39.019,0:03:44.419 it's been a massive problem where children are placed on enrollment waiting lists because simply there aren't enough 0:03:44.519,0:03:51.138 nursery schools for the demand and if you're a healthy housewife like Tomomi, it's almost impossible to enroll your child. 0:03:51.140,0:03:53.140 Karin, which one is your favorite toy? 0:04:02.000,0:04:05.760 KARIN: Banana...Apple 0:04:06.380,0:04:08.280 I noticed that Karin knows many English words. 0:04:08.280,0:04:09.820 Do you make her study? 0:04:30.340,0:04:33.100 So Karin is practicing getting dressed all by herself these days. 0:04:33.100,0:04:36.200 It seems like dressing a kid is the same all over the world. 0:04:46.260,0:04:50.480 After dressing up Karin and getting ready herself, she finally has time for the house chores. 0:04:50.660,0:04:53.420 She vacuums the apartment and washes dishes from breakfast. 0:04:53.500,0:04:58.840 At this age, Karin is old enough to play on her own, so Tomomi can focus on the chores. 0:04:59.920,0:05:05.120 So after finishing her morning chores, Tomomi has a little bit more time to hang out with Karin. 0:05:05.130,0:05:07.469 Let's see what they do for the rest of the day. 0:05:13.450,0:05:15.479 So, what do you do when you want to have a date night? 0:05:20.260,0:05:22.409 Using babysitters in Japan is uncommon so 0:05:22.410,0:05:26.369 Tomomi asks her mom once a month to help with Karin so she can go out with her husband. 0:05:29.440,0:05:33.059 So it looks like they're having a coloring session right now. While they're doing that 0:05:33.400,0:05:35.860 let's explore the house a little bit and let me show you around. 0:05:40.920,0:05:45.380 In Japanese homes, it's common to have many fish grills below the stove. 0:05:45.400,0:05:47.400 But wait, what's this? You don't use the fish grill? 0:05:51.680,0:05:53.420 Because Karin is likely to play with it, 0:05:53.420,0:05:56.540 she's turned off the gas completely and uses IR stoves instead. 0:05:56.540,0:06:00.680 And this is their bath unit, with an automatic bath to fill the water to a desired level 0:06:00.680,0:06:01.920 and temperature. 0:06:04.180,0:06:09.180 So while Karin is playing on her own, Tomomi takes advantage of this free time to work on her blog. 0:06:09.440,0:06:10.600 So what's your blog about? 0:06:19.420,0:06:22.060 Once in a while, she even teaches seminars 0:06:22.060,0:06:26.560 on how to manage and be mindful of one's emotions in order to live a more positive life 0:06:26.560,0:06:28.580 for that person and for the people around them. 0:06:28.580,0:06:33.360 Oh! It looks like Karin wants to play with her now. As part of being a mother, Tomomi consciously 0:06:33.760,0:06:38.840 prioritizes Karin's needs so she often must quickly shift her focus in order to take care of her daughter. 0:06:46.260,0:06:48.980 Uh-oh, she doesn't want to clean up her toys. 0:06:51.160,0:06:52.680 Now they're ready to go to the park. 0:06:56.040,0:06:58.880 So Karin's at the age where she wants to do everything on her own 0:06:58.990,0:07:03.809 so Tomomi must exercise some patience to allow her daughter to grow into these experiences. 0:07:05.050,0:07:07.050 This could take some time though. 0:07:08.640,0:07:10.380 Finally! Out the door. 0:07:15.120,0:07:18.260 This is a "mamachari" meaning mom's bicycle. 0:07:18.260,0:07:21.780 It's marked by a lowered center frame allowing for easy mount and dismount. 0:07:21.920,0:07:25.100 In fact, people don't drive much in Tokyo so it's common to have a bike 0:07:25.100,0:07:29.760 and in recent years a lot of the newer mamachari's have been outfitted with electric pedal assist 0:07:29.760,0:07:32.369 motors making it even easier to transport kids. 0:07:32.369,0:07:39.140 In fact, you'll often see mothers with a baby in a child seat on the front handlebars and older children in the back. 0:07:40.120,0:07:44.380 As part of raising a child, Tomomi believes it's important to let her child play outside. 0:07:44.460,0:07:47.280 So she takes her daughter to the park regularly. 0:07:48.220,0:07:50.220 So, how long does she play in the park? 0:07:52.920,0:07:57.320 Wow, that's a lot of playtime. So moms do sometimes talk to other moms in the park 0:07:57.320,0:08:01.600 but, in Tokyo, people don't regularly talk to strangers. So it is harder to make friends. 0:08:01.630,0:08:05.790 Also, Karin often makes friends on the playground, but I guess she's not feeling it today. 0:08:10.539,0:08:13.480 So Karin wanted to bring her white shoes to the park 0:08:13.480,0:08:15.460 and her mom did want her to bring it because 0:08:15.480,0:08:17.100 they would get dirty. 0:08:17.100,0:08:18.480 And look what happened. 0:08:26.980,0:08:28.980 Now they're stopping by a local butcher shop 0:08:28.980,0:08:30.360 to pick up meat for dinner. 0:08:46.860,0:08:49.660 Awww. Karin's wiped from all that playing. 0:09:00.200,0:09:03.040 Do you have a policy on how to raise Karin? 0:09:20.980,0:09:24.120 Now she gets a little bit more time to work on her own stuff 0:09:24.120,0:09:27.329 so she uses it to build her new website for her business. 0:09:30.519,0:09:35.759 Oh! Her husband's back home. Tomomi says she really appreciates him being around to raise Karin together. 0:09:35.760,0:09:39.449 In fact, it's common in Japan for most housewives to do it alone. 0:09:39.449,0:09:43.740 So common that there's a term for it: "wanope ikuji". Short for: 0:09:43.860,0:09:47.500 "one operation child rearing" which also includes all of the house chores. 0:09:47.520,0:09:51.720 In point, recent surveys show that men in Japan on average do 0:09:51.720,0:09:56.260 18.3% of the house chores and child-rearing while women 81.7% 0:09:56.280,0:10:00.000 This is the highest percentage out of 33 major countries in the world. 0:10:00.940,0:10:02.940 Oh! It looks like they're making cake now. 0:10:03.010,0:10:06.209 Tomomi also believes it is important for her daughter to learn how to cook 0:10:06.209,0:10:10.409 so she involves her in the process; giving her mini-tasks that she can complete on her own. 0:10:13.710,0:10:15.889 Are you making a cake using a pan? 0:10:25.770,0:10:29.930 It's rare in Japan for kitchens to have built-in ovens due to the lack of space 0:10:29.930,0:10:34.600 so you'll find many innovative products like this as well as other creative ways to cook. 0:10:35.720,0:10:39.660 Oh no! Karin is a little fussy because she doesn't want to eat it without milk. 0:10:41.600,0:10:46.380 Maybe she's still a little tired from playing outside. Tomomi seems to be handling it really well though. 0:10:55.260,0:10:57.260 Now it's time to make dinner. 0:10:59.660,0:11:04.200 Karin volunteered to help so Tomomi is more than happy to accommodate and let her rinse the rice. 0:11:04.400,0:11:07.080 So before getting married, Tomomi almost never cooked, 0:11:07.080,0:11:10.200 but she says she later learned from her experienced mom friends. 0:11:18.660,0:11:21.060 So how do you decide what you're cooking every day? 0:11:28.060,0:11:32.340 So Tomomi's husband has to go out for work again, but someone's not happy about that. 0:11:32.340,0:11:34.340 (KARIN CRIES) 0:11:39.200,0:11:42.280 It's okay - Tomomi's around to comfort and play with her daughter. 0:11:46.140,0:11:49.840 And now, Karin's asking her to be a camera person. 0:11:49.840,0:11:51.360 The thing's moms will do. 0:11:59.040,0:12:00.860 TOMOMI & KARIN: Itadakimasu 0:12:01.260,0:12:06.580 For dinner, Tomomi uses the pork from the butcher shop to prepare a dish called pork napa cabbage mille-feuille 0:12:06.580,0:12:08.840 and a cute little onigiri for Karin. 0:12:24.700,0:12:28.320 So in Japan it's typical for families to share the same bathwater 0:12:28.340,0:12:31.000 even when there's several children with varying ages. 0:12:31.120,0:12:34.660 In the past, it was customary for the father to use the bath first and the wife last 0:12:34.660,0:12:37.340 but these days, the rule is less followed. 0:12:38.280,0:12:42.440 Now she puts away Karin's laundry for tomorrow and gets ready to put Karin to bed. 0:12:51.910,0:12:54.869 Oh no! Tomomi's having a hard time brushing Karin's teeth. 0:13:04.140,0:13:08.340 Apparently Tomomi must often find different ways to convince Karin to brush her teeth 0:13:16.500,0:13:19.760 It usually takes her about 15 to 20 minutes to put Karin to bed. 0:13:27.040,0:13:28.210 Once asleep, 0:13:28.210,0:13:31.139 Tomomi finally has a chance to complete the rest of her house chores 0:13:31.140,0:13:36.869 and any time after this, she can use it for herself. Such as planning for her next seminar, Gokigen Life. 0:13:37.680,0:13:40.000 And she also has time to work on her Instagram. 0:13:40.000,0:13:43.420 She tries to post every day to raise awareness about what she does. 0:13:44.040,0:13:47.320 So that's pretty much a day in the life of a Japanese housewife. 0:13:47.600,0:13:50.760 As you can see, she has her own free time right now. 0:13:50.760,0:13:52.170 Her daughter's already asleep. 0:13:52.170,0:13:56.039 So she has about two hours before she goes to bed at 12 o'clock. 0:13:56.040,0:13:59.399 If you guys want to see what she's doing, then I'll definitely leave links in the description. 0:13:59.400,0:14:01.760 Also if you guys wanted to see kind of my regular life, 0:14:01.760,0:14:04.020 I recently created a channel called Tokyo Zebra 0:14:04.020,0:14:06.620 and that channel also has my wife Maiko 0:14:06.620,0:14:08.660 and if you guys don't already know from the previous videos, 0:14:08.660,0:14:10.040 we have a baby on the way 0:14:10.040,0:14:13.500 so that channel have all of that stuff that's coming up 0:14:13.500,0:14:17.800 and if you want to see more, I have so many more Day in the Life videos to come 0:14:17.800,0:14:19.800 so definitely hit that Subscribe button and the 0:14:19.860,0:14:22.000 Bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one.