The Northwest times. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1947-1955, 1950-10-25
Japan Husbands Not as Bad as All That

is too snort 10 waste on Sucn LlCe-
ties. They will keep on yearning in
vain, however, as long as the pre-
sent japanese society clings to its
present customs.
Dislike Office Calls
japanese husbands extremely dis
like wives to make phone calls OF
call them during office hours. When
ever wife happens to call at her
husbands office, her husbands
friends say to her, Il assure you
ma'am, there is nothing to worry
about concerning your husband
Your husband is devoted to you.
They purposely misinterpret the in
tention of the visit. Whereupon, the
husband himself chimes in, saying
why don't you stop being SO sus-
picious and go home? You don't be-
long here"
myself once had this bitter ex-
perience. Since there was nothing
could do, I went home, sick at heart
On the way home, met an Ameri-
can neighbor of mine. who Offered
me lift in her car. Since Americans
are an etiquette-minded people with
an uncanny instinct about the feel
ings of other people, she Immediately
sensed my mood, and asked why
was looking SO out-of-sorts. tolc
her the reason, and concluded with
the remark, II suppose such things
do not occur in the United States
TIC my surprise, she told me thai
| in the United States, wives are very
unwelcome at the office. The reason
was that, sometimes, when the wife
happens to drop into her husband:
office, she finds a beautiful secretary
ON her husbands lap. However, she
assured me that it only happened
when there was a lack OF seating
facilities. In brief, in the United
States, the wife is unwelcome at the
office when there is lack of seat
ing facilities; in Japan, the wife is
unwelcome whether there are enough
chairs or not.
Wives Unwelcome
! 1t is not women VINO are unwel-
come in Japanese society. 1t is only
wives who are unwelcome. There
fore, although there may be some
high minded man who wishes to &C
through life sharing its pleasures
with his wife, his good intentions
would not withstand the influences
of Japanese society, which makes
the presence of wives unwelcome.
In this way, the wifes field be-
comes restricted to the household
only, while the husband alone, keeps
up with the world. AS the result
the wife retrocedes, while the hus-
band progresses. An irrevocable
chasm opens up between the hus-
band and the wife.
Everyone realizes that this evil
is inherent in the present structure
of society. However, nothing has
been done to solve this problem
which has existed for years between
the husband and the wife.
Special mention must be made OF
the "shayo" husband. CA family
which strictly belong to the prewaI
period, used to be epicurians) Some
one once remarked that the wal
produced widows and spinsters. How
ever, these "shayo" husbands were
unique in that they set precedence
over the war: they created "golt
widows" and "mah jong widows" etc
Already Sick of It
1t was not due to the war that
their wives were disappointed in
them. They were already sick and
tired of their husbands before the
war started. If there was anything
which their wives saw in them, it
was probably their fat bank ac-
counts. However, with the surrender,
they lost all their money. They
could no longer afford to frequent
their former pleasure haunts. On
top of that, they could not even find
work. In this respect. the war did
not make them lose their husbands,
but on the other hand regained their
husbands for them. 1t Is no wonder.
that in such cases, there were many
wives who revolted against their now
idle husbands.
Love is an essential thing in the
relationship between the husband
and the wife. At the same time, a
certain amount of material things
is also essential. japanese women
are not materialistic. However, it
should be realized that it is a ne
cessary thing in life.
In order to have happily married
life, husband and wife should not
he fo0 ,10cccecixyo Tvoav chOaIld ollouJ