A mayor in Japan announced her maternity leave - and got the whole country talking

Watch: Shoko Kawata will make history as the first Japanese mayor to take maternity leave

When the mayor of a small town in western Japan announced she was taking maternity leave, she expected some raised eyebrows.

But the reaction was far stronger - and more divided - than Shoko Kawata had ever anticipated.

The 35-year-old has been plunged into a national debate about whether elected officials should take time off for childbirth, in a country that's struggling to lift birth rates.

"I was so surprised because the reaction was so big," Kawata tells the BBC.

Sitting on a blocky, cushioned armchair, she's flanked by two older men - her deputies - in a fifth-floor meeting room at City Hall in Yawata, a town south of Kyoto known for its shrines and cherry trees.

As there is currently no legal framework for local elected officials to take time off when they have babies, Kawata won't be taking maternity leave officially. Instead, she is assigning the man on her left, Shigeto Nose, to temporarily carry out her role.

Kawata says her colleagues were supportive - but reaction online was divided

She laid out her plans at a news conference in May, where she said she'd be off two months before and two months after her mid-September due date. She will be making history as Japan's first ever mayor to take maternity leave.

Everyone at work, where the average age is 39, was supportive, she says.

But that wasn't the case among members of the public, who've expressed varying views in thousands of X posts and several YouTube videos.

Some say having a baby is tough and Kawata is doing her best. Japanese society has failed to design systems with pregnancy in mind, one claims.

Another says Kawata is setting a wonderful example by putting her family first and making it easier for other women to enter politics.

But critics argue that stepping away from public duties is "irresponsible", and if she wanted to get pregnant "she should have done so before taking office". One says top officials wanting to take extended leave "should resign". Others insist salaries should be cut during maternity leave.

Kawata has brushed off the criticisms, proudly declaring she enjoys her job and believes now is the time for her to have a child and start a family.

"If we were to criticise politicians taking maternity leave, it means we are effectively excluding all women in their 20s through 40s - women who are capable of becoming pregnant - from public office."

Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata city in the Hiroshima prefecture, believes the real issue is figuring out how t