What Japanese family-friendly cities have in common

In 2018, I spent a year in Tokyo with my then 3-year-old son. At first, it was a breeze, coming from New York City. Train stations have an elevator, and bathrooms are clean and everywhere.

Over time, though, I began to sense unspoken social pressures. Commuters are so quiet that crying babies stand out and apologetic moms get off as soon as they become grumpy. Theaters, museum and other art and cultural institutions are less tolerant of noisy and active children. Moms not part of particular social cliques (“mamatomo,” usually circles of parents from playgrounds or schools that their kids go to) feel isolated. Is Japan family-friendly or not?

Livable versus family-friendly cities in Japan

Japan is known for safety, convenience, comfort and wealth (though its earning power is shrinking). No other country is saturated with chain stores open 24/7 year-round, selling everything from food staples to cosmetics, electronic items, clothes and school supplies, as much as in Japan. The annual survey of “livable cities” compares 812 municipalities along these indicators (safety, convenience, comfort and income level), and has awarded most recently the first place to Musashino-shi in Tokyo, followed by Fukui-shi in Fukui Prefecture and Nonoichi-shi in Ishikawa Prefecture.

In 2022, the “family friendliness” version of the ranking became available, whereby extra points were granted to cities with a higher ratio of children up to age four and subsidies for their medical care costs. Not surprisingly, cities excelling in family-friendliness are ranked high in the overall city livability ratings. The most family-friendly cities, such as Koshi-shi in Kumamoto Prefecture (first place), Kurayoshi-shi in Tottori Prefecture (third place) and Hakusan-shi in Ishikawa Prefecture (seventh place) are in the top 25 on the list of the most livable cities.

Yet, the reverse is not true. Musashino-shi is ranked 220th in terms of family friendliness. In fact, no cities from the wider Tokyo metropolitan and surrounding Kanto region make it to the top 100, except for Inzai-shi in Chiba Prefecture.

What makes cities family-friendly?

Japanese analysts list the following features as common in these family-friendly cities:

1. Childcare facilities, especially for working parents.
2. Parks and community centers for social interaction.
3. Community-wide support for child safety.
4. Shopping malls for daily supplies.
5. Spacious sidewalks for strollers.
6. Pediatric clinics and hospitals.
7. Municipal-level initiatives, such as:

– Gifting cash for the birth of a child
– Offering social services (e.g., infant care) at a discount rate
– Reducing the cost of diapers and other items through coupons and other incentives
– Subsidizing medical costs for school-age children.

Globally, attributes for the most family-friendly cities (e.g., Reykjavik, Helsinki, and Ottawa, among others) include not only parks and ample pedestrian crosswalks, as mentioned above, but museums offering kids discounts and programs, summer camps, and affordable housing and schooling options. It appears that Japanese family-friendly cities, once they overcome childcare and medical infrastructure issues, may expand their goals to the social, educational and cultural empowerment of children and their caregivers.