Shoko Kawada, the 36-year-old mayor of Yahata in Kyoto Prefecture, returned to work on the 9th after four months of maternity leave, a leave that appears to be the first taken by a head of a local government in Japan.
Kawada arrived at city hall at 8 a.m. She gave birth to a daughter on September 15.
"I feel glad that I can throw myself into work again with a fresh mind," she said. "With no precedent, I had to work through it while reading the law."
No leave system for a mayor
Mayors have no maternity or childcare leave system of the kind available to ordinary public servants and company employees. A mayor holds a special post under the Local Public Service Act, and the law sets no working hours or leave provisions for it.
The city instead applied the deputy mayor provision of the Local Autonomy Act. The framework is meant for unforeseen events such as illness or accidents.
Under it, Deputy Mayor Shigeto Nose answered questions in the city assembly and handled inspections, approvals and other routine mayoral duties.
“Please leave the work to us in principle. We will run the city administration properly. Childbirth is an important life stage, so think of that first.”Shigeto Nose, Yahata deputy mayor
Meetings with the camera off
Kawada did not hand over everything. She joined city meetings remotely about once a week from a room with a computer.
"Some meetings run long, and when they overlap with feeding time I ask the staff if I can turn off the camera," she said. "I feed while the meeting continues with the camera off."
Her husband, an elementary school teacher, supported the remote meetings and has taken six months of childcare leave.
“She is everyone's mayor, so I want her to give her work everything. If there is anything I can do to the fullest, I will do it.”Kawada's husband
Concerns over disasters
Many residents backed the arrangement, but some objected. One concern was how the city would respond in a disaster.
“What about a major emergency disaster? The mayor's role is not to move her hands but to lay the tracks. We are the engine pushing the train along those tracks from behind. That difference is large.”Shigeto Nose, Yahata deputy mayor
Kawada will use remote work and flexible hours in her duties. She said child-rearing should not be pushed into the private sphere.
“I hope this case does not end as a one-off irregularity, and I want to work so it becomes an example and a system that those who follow can use easily.”Shoko Kawada, Mayor of Yahata