Japanese men and housework

This rather shocking piece came to me in an email today from another missionary:

Some time ago, a Japanese government survey revealed that the country's men perform household tasks in only 1 per cent of homes. The alarming statistic has prompted Tokyo to offer middle-aged men a beginner's guide to such household basics as peeling an apple, cooking rice, switching on a washing machine and using a vacuum cleaner and a duster. “But the program will stop at teaching them how to hang out washing or air the bedding on the apartment balconies,” a newspaper reports. “Because it recognizes that being spotted by a neighbour would be considered a loss of face.” It is true that some elderly Japanese men never enter the kitchen area of their houses, unless their wives are seriously ill or away. Then they might consider opening the door of the fridge to get something out to eat or drink."

No wonder my Japanese friends were shocked when I was able to go away periodically and leave my husband in charge of the whole household and our three boys! Imagine the comments he must have generated each Saturday when he hung washing out where the whole street could see his actions.