Hello, everyone. My name is Masanori Hinaoka.
I am 35 years old, living with my 32-year-old wife, four-year-old daughter, and one-year-old son. I am involved in the maintenance and management of sewerage facilities at the City Hall's Water and Sewer Department.

When I was a university student majoring in media such as television, I founded an a cappella circle. I considered how I could express myself through beatboxing, and translated my ideas into action.
After graduation, I got a job with a wholesale company that sells shampoos and other items to beauty salons. Later, I changed jobs to a beauty product manufacturer that manufactures and sells shampoos, before taking my current job at the city hall when I was 30 years old.

With that as my background, I would like to tell you what I felt in my heart after taking a year of childcare leave.
Let me get straight to the point. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. If I can have another child in the future, I will take childcare leave again.
I will describe my experience as it is. I believe this will be helpful for those who are worried about their future work styles and uncertain what they want to be. Please read till the end.

The story proceeds in the following order:
(1) Reason for taking childcare leave
(2) How do I honestly feel after taking childcare leave?
(3) Things I was worried about during my childcare leave

Now, I would like to proceed with the story.
(1) Reason for taking childcare leave I decided to take childcare leave because when I was a child, my mother was always by my side and I never felt lonely. As a result, if I do say so myself, I grew up to be a typical “good child,” haha. I feel that I am living a full and satisfying life with self-esteem, self-love, and many positive personal relationships. Of course, my life does not only have positive aspects, but I personally see it as a good life. Therefore, I decided to take childcare leave to help my children lead positive and satisfying lives.

(2) How do I honestly feel after taking childcare leave? Well, my life during my childcare leave was probably busier than you can imagine. But it was a great time.
Whatever job you may do, you'll be relieved of the stress you feel at work, but in place of that, you'll have the stress of having no time for yourself.
Just imagine. Children cry when something happens and even when nothing happens. The only time you can be alone away from your children is when you go to the toilet by yourself. Having no time for myself was probably the hardest part.
But more than that, the time I spent with my children was irreplaceable. Personally, the more time I spent with my children, the more I loved them from the bottom of my heart. Before having my own child, I was not very good with children, but now I've become the kind of man who likes them very much, haha.
My wife told me that sharing both happy and not-so-happy moments with me was the best part of my childcare leave.
I sincerely tell you that it was a very good time for my wife and me.

(3) Things I was worried about during my childcare leave Now, I would like to talk about the financial aspect that I was most worried about in terms of childcare leave. I'm sure many of you are most concerned about finances, like me. We all have different standards of living. Therefore, this may not hold true for everyone, but things will work out somehow. It’s true that your take-home pay will fall a little, but not so much. If you hesitate to take childcare leave because you are worried about money, you don’t have to worry so much about it.
As for the exact amount you would receive, I think it would be a good idea to check in advance with the person in charge at your future workplace.
Knowing the exact figures will relieve your anxiety. That’s my recommendation.

I've talked about childcare leave, but I don't think taking childcare leave is the only right answer. How we think and how we feel mentally fulfilled differ from person to person. For me, happiness is the state of mind in which my heart is filled with warmth. That's just for me.

Therefore, I think that it’s better to take childcare leave if you feel fulfilled spending time with your child; if you don’t, then I don’t think you need to take childcare leave.
Rather than taking childcare leave just because others take it, take a good look at yourself and think about what happiness means to you and in what kind of moments you feel fulfilled. At the age of 34, I finally became clearly aware of the state in which I am mentally fulfilled (i.e., my values), gradually learning to live while focusing on my own point of view. Then, my earlier concerns became less important to me as if they had been illusions, allowing me to enjoy my life comfortably.
I think what made me start living that way was the time I spent with my children during my childcare leave.
I hope some of you find the story of my experience helpful.

Thank you for reading till the end.
I hope that you will live a full and satisfying life as one-of-a-kind in the world.

Published in "Follow your own path" (2023-)
Affiliation, job title, etc. are as of the publication of the 2023 edition of "Follow your own path".