The Stay At Home Dads Of Japan

I am the member of a very small set of people: The stay at home dads of Japan. I have been on parental leave for the past ten months, which would not be unusual in my native Sweden. In Japan, it is a rarity. Just as an example of how rare, I was out walking the kids one day, when I walked past a group of mothers with their kids having a picknick in the grass in the nearby park (they did not invite me, despite my three kids). But I heard the comments:
"Steki!"
"What a nice dad!"
"Wonder if his wife is at home?"
And then, the final one:
"You can almost believe you are not in Japan!"
It is that rare to see a dad walking his kids. Well, a dad with triplets would be rare anywhere, I guess.
The Japanese government really makes it difficult for people who want to use parental leave. You have to pay taxes, and if you made as much as I do last year, it was a substantial chunk of money. But on top of that, you only get 200 000 yen per month, independently of how much you make. And how many kids you have. You do get a government subsidy per kid, but that also depends on your income - so I get 5000 yen per kid per month. That is about what they use up in diapers, not to speak of food.
Not that baby goods and baby food are expensive in Japan compared to Sweden. On the contrary, many things are cheaper, and better quality. The baby food costs about the same, but when I think back to what my brother fed his kids when they were small, and what my kids get to eat, it is like we went from McDonalds to a Michelin-starred restaurant. Yes, the baby food is that good.
Japan could be a great place for kids. There are plenty of playgrounds, you can drive a stroller comfortably on the sidewalks, the climate is great most of the year - not too cold, not too hot. And there are seasons.
There are also parks to experience those seasons in. You may think Tokyo is a grey mass of concrete, but it is surprisingly green. Where we live, there are several nice parks nearby. And one legacy of Ishihara, the governor who brought the Olympic Games to Tokyo, is green. He drew up a plan to plant trees and make parks that his successors have been following. 
But when you want to put your kids in kindergarten, since your parental leave is up in a couple of months, you run into a stone wall. They prioritize single mothers - well, that is fine. But what about three kids who will have to stay with grandmother when dad and mom go to work?
"It might be best if you stopped working", the city office clerk told my wife. She got mad, but luckily, she has a supportive husband who does his part (and then some). Other women either avoid having kids, or avoid getting married. Or both. No wonder the population of Japan is shrinking.