Started doing research into child-rearing in Japan as I soon will be a dad and noticed that some posts used the tag “Parents：” in this subreddit.
I was wondering if there was an actual subreddit for expat parents in Japan? I tried do a few searches but nothing came up. If there isn’t one anyone know of a similar sort of platform/ forum that exists?
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There is /r/japanparents but it’s pretty dead unfortunately. Most other queries will probably be posted here.
Eh. No exclusive community. Just post here I guess.
I remember that there used to be a Facebook group for parents and it was quite toxic, tbh.
I recall that a few dads (full-time, stay-at-home) joined the group and were immediately and bluntly told to leave because it was “moms only”. SMH.
There is a LINE group for parents that some members are a part of
Make a new one called Japarents
Just ask here. I like when people do because I can get info/tips about stuff I had never thought about.
What do you want to know exactly? Official paperwork stuff, how to keep a kid alive, things to buy for baby, general advice, how your life will change, worries?
IIRC there’s a Tokyo Mothers Group on Facebook that is very active. It might be moms only not Dads, I am not sure of their membership rules. Perhaps get your partner to join instead.
Following this. There are a few groups on Facebook, but I’ve found it’s 99% Tokyo. There’s one for Kansai, but it’s not too active. Not a lot of dads. Where are the international groups for dads? Or meets? I can’t find any international meetups for elem school kids… mostly younger ones.
I’m in a line group for foreign parents in Japan. They share tips all the time and things. I should be able to invite anyone who sends me a message.
Unfortunately we only have the japandivorcelife on here
Speaking of, where’s my japanlifekidz subreddit?
Yeah I wish there’s some places for that too. It’s difficult because I’m not that really on top of the game to keep track of what needs to be done, and circumstances dealing with dual citizenship for the child, what are benefits we gotta do, what are things to know, etc
For example, there’s no middle name on paper when registering your child here, so it’s 2 first names and the last name must follow the Japanese name, not the father’s.
Another example, doing the 9-dot injection thingy on the arm, I personally didn’t want that for my child so I could find an alternative to do it on the bottom of the foot/heel. I had to find a foreigner clinic with a foreigner doctor. Apparently Japanese doctor cannot do outside of the arm location.
Learn as we go by. I didn’t grow up here so understanding the education part like exams is difficult to prepare properly for me.