This news may have the same effect as watching an episode of Black Mirror, where reality surpasses fiction. Let’s take a look. In Tokyo, Japan, there is a company through which it is possible to rent a grandmother for $60 an hour, called Client Partners. This service is offered under the name OK! Obaachan (OK! Grandmother). This is the case of Taeko Kaji, who at 69 years old found this job that she says keeps her active and entertained. Turi Kanazawa, the executive director of the woman-led company that employs only women, stated that just by adding the word ‘woman’ to the business, the market opened up completely.
The professor of Asian and Japanese studies at La Trobe University, Kaori Okano, studies gender relations in Japan and stated that the company offers valuable opportunities for some older women.Japan’s basic national pension plan is similar to that of Australia, in which to be eligible for a retirement pension, one must have contributed to it through work. In the case of women who have had to take on family care responsibilities, giving up their active work life, they will only have access to a pension if their husband has contributed to one during their active working life.
The gender wage and employment gap in Japan is more than evident, although the professor of Human Resource Management and Labor Economics at Meikai University in Japan, Eriko Teramura, says she hopes these numbers will change with jobs for older women. The OECD has warned of the risk of a decline in the labor force affecting economic growth, which has been addressed by the administration. The Japanese government has approved the Act to Promote the Active Participation of Women in Professional Life, which will come into effect in April 2026, and will require companies to balance the number of women in management positions, as well as be transparent about the wage gap.
The role of older women in Japan
The case of Taeko Kaji, a 69-year-old woman of Japanese origin and residency, represents a clear example of what happens to women in Japan when they reach a certain age. The vast majority of them are forced to leave their jobs to care for the family unit, as well as to take responsibility for raising children and caring for the family in general. Once that care is no longer needed (if it ever is), these women find themselves completely capable of holding a job that helps them make ends meet and allows them to feel fulfilled. What can make an older woman, who has spent her entire life providing care, feel fulfilled? Naturally, continuing to care.
Hire a grandmother for $60 an hour
Who wouldn’t want someone to do the household chores, cook for us, wash our clothes, give us life advice, and take care of us? This is the offer from the company Client Partners when they provide the service OK! Obaachan (OK! Grandmother). Just so you know, there is no option for OK! Grandfather. Turi Kanazawa, the Executive Director of the company, stated to ABC, “There were so many men working independently, and we knew the market was saturated.”
She added, “just adding the word ‘woman’ [to the business] really opened up the market.” Among their services, you can find interpreters, tour guides, and the rental of friends or an aunt. With a workforce of between 300-400 employees, it is a company run by women for women, where only women work. “The staff members of our grandmother, who cook for the guests and act as a mother to them, help provide the maternal warmth they need”.
Wage and gender gap in Japan
The professor of Asian and Japanese studies at La Trobe University, Kaori Okano, stated that this job position exclusively for women “gives a sense of self-realization to these women who were previously unemployed who can be useful and valued by others.” This is an utterly irrefutable statement, as there is no other viable option for achieving self-realization for these women.
Given the huge gender and salary gap that exists in Japan, the authorities have had to take action, approving a law that will come into effect in April 2026, the Law to Promote the Active Participation of Women in Professional Life. Through it, companies will be required to regulate the number of women in management positions, as well as to be transparent about salary gaps.
