Tim_Fox comments

This is chauvinist drivel and would be a best seller in 1950s America. This writer assumes a "nagging" wife causing distress for the "poor" husband - so he escapes to a separate bedroom, so he doesn't have to listen to her anymore. As this is now the 21st Century, I'm amazed that this writing is being taken seriously. I understand there are couples who do sleep separately in Japan. Coming from North America, this does seem something quite old-fashioned - what one set of my grandparents did. But, whatever a couple decides is fine, but I don't like the reasons this article gives for sleeping separately. This writer recommends foregoing greater communication with a spouse (wife - as the article appears to be directed at men) to have a more meaningful relationship. Instead it continues the old trend of always putting work first before family - no matter what - so what the marriage really is is just a serious of dutiful obligations without the feeling of joy, building a common dream, or deep love that makes a relationship meaningful.

I've never seen a big chain convenience store (Lawson, 7-11, Family Mart, Circle K etc.) that required you to announce or ask to use the restroom. Some people do, but most of the time staff seem too busy or simply don't really care.

Night high school is the rare exception in Japan and not the norm. At my high school, uniforms are a little tent like and strictly adhered to.

This is a myopic policy and does little to stem the falling population in Japan. Get the least skilled - i.e. least economically and politically powerful type of immigrant in the country - so they pose the least threat to the establishment. Most people except for the up 1/3 demographic can afford domestic helpers, so this new immigration program will not help the majority of hard working citizens. Again again again again again if you want to helping women reenter the workforce after having a child do something about the staggering waiting lists at daycare centers. Also make daycare much more affordable. This type of potential exploitive labor program will neither improve access to daycare or housekeeping help or it's overall affordability. The only way forward for Japan is skilled labor immigrants with meaningful long term roles in companies in leadership positions and boosting the IT sector. I do not want to see skilled IT people from other countries continually railroaded into telemarketing jobs selling products and services from Japanese companies overseas.

It will be expensive to build and maintain. Japan needs to spend this kind of money on other things like adequate daycare for example. Trains are already fast enough.

A few examples to try and make a sensationalized story.

dentook2001, Your description of the Japanese wife sounds like a marriage on the way out. Most international couples I know are quite enthusiastic about English learning for their children...

I'm not really seeing the hard data in this article to back the headlines claim that the mistress market is expanding in these hard times.

Quite frankly haven't really heard much about her or any of the slanering. Thought she wasn't really famous anymore and sort of retired. Paparazzi problems must be awful, but now she must take the consequences for drawing even more attention herself.

The title of the article is a bait and switch. Where is the data, the discussion, or stats backing up the headlines claims of "increasing numbers"?

As usual, this type of article is male-centric. Simple math will also tell you at approximately 1/3 of Japanese women will also stay single for their life. Basically, if people don't want to get married that their business. If they want to be married and can't because of society money problems, that is an issue to worry about. The main problem though is the falling birthrate OR low numbers immigrants - immigrants presumably in sufficient numbers to make up for this shortfall.

How do these stats compare with big cities say int the usa?

The writer of the article said the tuna was very cheap, but then concludes at the end that customers are likely to be overcharged at such places. Are they cheap or expensive places to eat? I'm not clear from this article what was meant... Why oh why doesn't the writer mention cigarette smoke? Something ravished during the showa era and distained in modern society...

Asking producers to comply. That's it. No inspection or oversight or reports required to ensure changes have been made. Lazy, shameful, non-action.

Nobody wants increased search capabilities and Siri app functions except for those who are on the road a lot and those who are visually impaired. Everyone wants an intelligent chat bot that you see in sci fi movies - something which will never be possible for at least another 100 years...

This is not what parents do in Japan. This is excessive and misguided corporal punishment. Would like to know the full story on this one, and sadly suspect the parents thought about abandoning their child altogether and had a change of heart. But, it ended up being too late.

Actually savethegaijin, employers in the states have been known to do harass employees call in by phone. In the NYC where I worked as a public school teacher, I had one school Principle that accused teachers of lying after hearing them on the phone and giving them a warning. The union pushed to have this system eliminated for this reason, and now there is a log on system where you register your absence as soon as possible online in the morning or ideally the night before. This system also does not require you to give a reason for absence - you just have a bank of days you can use now that are your personal days to use for personal things or sickness.

The article implies working in the AV industry is "breaking the law." This is a false claim.

The story didn't mention changes to the chicken ingredients, which if I'm not mistaken may still include cartilledge, beak, head including Bill, and organs that usually only go into stuffing or on yakitori sticks etc. Just fewer chemical additives. So, I'm not sure.

Why do you need privacy when you're camping? Just a question...

shonnanb, yes you can have your ashes spread, but there are logistical problems. My wife's grandfather was buried at sea as per his wishes, but his older daughter still insisted on a regular open coffin funeral followed by the older brother flipping the switch for cremation followed by the various follow up vigils and auntie's insistance on making an annual pilgramage to the sea where his ashes were spread. Unless you get a will done in writing with a lawyer stipulating everything (very rare in Japan), someone will insist on all the bells and whistles that tend to emphasize death over life in family gatherings.

Once frogs disappear from this Earth, I heard human life is screwed.

Although the score of Star Wars sounds outstanding, John Williams borrowed heavily from Gustav Holst's "The Planets" symphony.

You could probably reverse this completely. "Survey shows most Western employees don’t like Japanese-style work socials." The endless speeches are what kill me. The food is usually mediocre with an emphasis placed on the drinking. I actually find at this kind of party - I don't end up eating enough. I actually eat more at Western style socials because at least there is a food table, and you can order something like reasonably priced pizza and reasonably sized pizza if you want extra food...

The lives of Japanese teens who are in high schools is very regulated in Japan. I heard that compensated dated was much more common in the 80s, but the kinds of opportunities for girls to date in high school that exist in Western countries simply don't exist in Japan. There are no school dances, homes are often multi-generational, and kids are often at school clubs all weekend. High school kids are regarded more as maturing children than as young adults. I would say the problem exists, but that its number couldn't be quite the high.

Japanese neighbors blank each other too.

If you have a wife that commits DV against a man when she has a panic attack related to unresolved childhood issues, it can take literally several hours for her to calm down. When there's a mental health issue involved there is an additional reluctance to report the incident as you are put in the position of often being the sole caregiver. It's hard to walk out on someone when they need help - your help even when it hurts you...

Actually, my wife who is Japanese said that if she kept her own last name (I'm American), she would have to appear before a judge to get approval to keep her last name for personal or professional reasons.

Whose rabid the hunters or concerned citizens?

The problem is not wives who are sitting around lazy. It is the extreme pressure on women to be Stepford wives. Non-working mothers are expected to babysit her aging parents and in-laws, prepare perfect meals, do laundry everyday, take a job in her kids PTA (the jobs are surprisingly time consuming in Japan), take a job in her neighborhood (there are time-consuming neighborhood jobs which make all private home ownership feel more like a coop), and not to mention required volunteerism in the form if all day attendance at her child's sporting events. These kinds of social obligations really drive against any passion most women have for a career after marriage.