The purpose of this study is to reveal the background of the movement to establish certification of male childcare workers in Japan. The study focuses on the period from the 1960s, when men began to seek childcare certification, to 1999, when the Social Welfare Act was amended and the gender-neutral childcare term of certification, “Hoikushi” (childcare professional), was legalized.
　For research, this paper uses documents issued by childcare-related organizations, official documents from administrative agencies, etc., that dealt with the movement, as well as interview surveys of male childcare workers.
　The first thing that became clear was the relationship between Danhoren (male childcare workers organization) that played an important role in the movement for male childcare workers to acquire childcare certification as well as other related childcare-related organizations. Danhoren adopted as a strategy to address the codified assumption that only women could acquire childcare certification, called “Hobo” (female childcare worker), on the assumption that only women engaged in nursery work. Media reports also made visible the existence of male childcare workers, a minority at the time, prompting the administration to tackle the problem.
　Next, other childcare-related organizations cooperated with a series of campaigns by male childcare workers. The reason for success is that from the beginning of the movement, Danhoren positioned the childcare profession as a “leader of childcare that integrates nursing and education”, rather than only childcare. On the other hand, Danhoren sought a gender-neutral term of certification, to reflect that childcare is not determined by the gender of the childcare worker, but shaped by the individuality of the childcare worker. By advocating these two things simultaneously and adopting a strategy designed to improve the status of all childcare workers, the Danhoren movement was able to involve various childcare-related organizations to acquire certification for male childcare workers.