Because my wife also has a job, and because I wanted to share in caring for our child, I obtained two months' child-rearing leave. Every day of my leave, as I prepared the meals, did the laundry and looked after the baby, I understood how hard it is to do housework and care for a child. I' m now back at work using flex time, coming to work early and leaving early in the evening, to make time to spend as much time with my kid as possible. I' m grateful to my boss and co-workers for their understanding, and I' ll be happy to cooperate with others who want to take child-rearing leave as I did. I believe the shared understanding of housework and child-rearing I gained from this experience will improve relationships of trust at the workplace, leading to improved quality of work.

When my husband was transferred to China, I took leave of one year and two months. While we lived at his new post, I was surprised when other Japanese expats at other companies told me they were impressed with the generosity of Mazda' s system. That experience really made me grateful for the work environment Mazda provides. During my leave I was apprehensive about what would happen when I resumed work, but the support I enjoyed when I returned to the workplace made it seem so natural, I almost had to remind myself I' d been away. Now a lot of other people in my department are using the same system. My leave was also a great opportunity to learn, as I studied Chinese, joined hobby groups and otherwise broadened my perspective on other cultures. Now that I' m back, I can switch my attention on and off, concentrating better to get my work done. I' m continuing to study Chinese. My experience in China was an incredible experience that really charged my batteries.

This system is used by employees who need to stay at home for certain reasons, such as caring for a sick child. Employees working at home can put the time ordinarily lost commuting to valuable use, caring for family members and working. The work-at-home program is highly valued because it allows employees to use their time efficiently. On one occasion I was seconded to Ford, where I realized how different Mazda' s personnel system is from those of other automakers. At Mazda, employees are assigned to teams in which each employee gets one day a week to work from home. Through this system, Mazda recognizes the importance of spending time with one' s family. As IT and workplace systems improve, I expect the program to be more widely adopted, and the necessary supporting environment to be more widely available, allowing more employees to make use of it.

One of my children is handicapped, so I' ve had to spend an increasing amount of time on education, medical care, social services and community activities. To relieve the burden on my wife, and create more time to be with my child, I decided to make use of the work-at-home system. Mainly, we have home schooling once a week, so this system allows me to keep an eye on the kid while I work. Lately my wife has had to spend more time on school events for our older child, and I' m now able to participate more in community events, so this is an important time for me. I plan my work carefully in consideration of the time I' m away from the plant, and make more of an effort to cooperate with those around me. I feel this experience has made me more aware of my role as part of a team.

I am working shortened hours to coincide with the hours of my child' s nursery school. In fact, I use a number of programs available at Mazda, like exemptions from evening shift or overtime work, as well as the Special Warm Heart leave system for when my child is suddenly sick or for nursery school events. When a call from the nursery means that I have to leave work suddenly, it' s an enormous help that everyone at work is so understanding and cooperative. Mazda makes it easy for me to participate in nursery-school events. My child loves seeing me so often, and I don' t have to worry that I' m creating sad memories. I really appreciate the extra time for my family. I' ve become aware of the need to work efficiently during the limited time available for work, and struck a good balance between work and home life.