On Monday, July 15, which is Marine Day in Japan, the Morimoto family arrived at Myochi Plant in Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture at 8:30 a.m.

Although many people have the holiday off, it’s a workday for this Toyota plant. Mother Kana says she will watch her two children at her workplace as she works.

This is part of a new “bring your children to work” initiative being tried out at the Myochi auto part manufacturing plant as well as at the Miyoshi Plant (both in Miyoshi City), a first for Toyota plants.

After hearing complaints like “I had trouble finding a place that would watch my children on public holidays.” Or “One parent had to take the day off to watch them,” the company is listening carefully to the concerns of employees raising children while considering ways of welcoming children to the workplace.

At the Myochi Plant, staff in the manufacturing area set up a camera that was at the plant and connected it to a smartphone so employees could monitor their children, who were spending the day in a meeting room. At the Miyoshi Plant, employees from various divisions gathered in a single meeting room to take turns watching each other’s children.

The children themselves spent time studying, playing with toys and games, making friends, and even sometimes helping their parents with work... Overall they had an enjoyable day.

“I can have my children near me at work and keep an eye on them. I hope we can keep moving toward this sort of work-style reform,” says Kana Morimoto.

The idea of bringing children to work began out of Toyota's desire to give working parents more choices, aligned with Toyota’s aim to encourage everyone to contribute. Enjoy watching the heartwarming initiative at the link below.