Pregnant with possibilities

Mr Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of Yamaguchi prefecture, wearing a vest that recreates the breasts and belly of a woman who is seven months' pregnant, in a video called The Governor Is A Pregnant Woman. In Japan, where women do five times as much hous
PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of Yamaguchi prefecture, wearing a vest that recreates the breasts and belly of a woman who is seven months' pregnant, in a video called The Governor Is A Pregnant Woman.

In Japan, where women do five times as much housework as men, three male politicians have donned the 7.3kg "pregnancy" vests in a campaign to urge men to help out more at home.

Accompanied by uplifting music, the politicians groan as they climb up and down stairs, clutch their bellies as they ease themselves into cars and struggle to bend over.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 01, 2016, with the headline Pregnant with possibilities. Subscribe