Japan: Bachelors learn the art of parenting to help find wives

Japanese bachelors, looking for love, can now learn child-rearing skills to boost their chances of finding a partner.

The new, all-male 'ikumen' course teaches men how to bathe and dress a baby and also helps them understand a woman's perspective on child-rearing, says Ikumen University, the Osaka-based company behind the course.

Participants in one session on Sunday in the Japanese capital wore a 7kg pregnancy jacket, were taught how to improve communication with a potential spouse and filled out a worksheet stating traits women were deemed to dislike in men. 

"I wanted to create a form of certification proving a man's child-rearing skills and support for married life," said course instructor Takeshi Akiyama. "Matchmaking agencies can advertise such men as having 'extra value,' by letting potential partners know he will support the marriage."