Reviving the Inner Nurturing Capacities of Families in the Unpredictable World: A Japanese Perspective on Infant Mental Health

Rapid post-war industrialization and westernization destroyed traditional Japanese wisdom of childrearing. Many families have become disconnected and suffer in isolation under the oppressive forces of consumerism, competition, and conformity, eroding over time the interconnected nature of amae inherent in the ordinary way of being in Japanese communities. As Japan faces rapidly diminishing population with fewer births each year, parents are pressured and doubt their intuitive parenting and turn to external sources of guidance, often coming from Western ideals on caregiving that is believed to give their children the best chance toward a successful path. Yet, the high prevalence of mental health-related issues in children, youth, and families emerging from complex and intertwined vicissitudes of natural and man-made disasters and socio-economic turmoil in recent decades is now challenging Japanese mental health professionals to reflect on and scrutinize the Western approaches that they had hastily adopted. A critical task of mental health professionals in Japan now is to facilitate reviving of the inner nurturing capacities of families in culturally congruent ways in order to guide families toward individual and collective resiliency.