Ever had the water go cold on you suddenly while you’re in the shower? That may have been your wife getting “puchi” revenge. 

Lots of marriages in Japan still fit into the cookie-cutter mould of the nuclear family from the 1950s, where the husband goes out to work while the wife stays home and cooks and cleans for the family.

That dynamic doesn’t always make for a happy household, however, and when the wife is in charge of the household duties, she has the power to make her husband’s life unpleasant if there’s been an argument or if something he’s done, or not done, has put her in a foul mood.

So what’s an angry wife to do when she wants to let off steam? She resorts to acts of “puchi fukushuu” (“little revenge”).

The topic of puchi revenge was one that aired on TV Asahi’s Morning Show last week, after a viral tweet online got their attention. The tweet came from a man who said he’d argued with his wife over the cats one night, and when he went to work the next day, while the mood between him and his wife was still sour, he went to eat the lunch she’d prepared for him, only to find that it was packed in a pink, girly Pretty Cure lunchbox.

Embarrassed, he had to hide the lunchbox under his desk while eating it, but in the end, he was able to laugh about it and she felt better after blowing off steam so it helped to lighten the mood between them and they were able to reconcile.

https://twitter.com/nao_pokemori612/status/1301679069986078720

So if it’s able to lighten the mood between spouses, puchi revenge might not actually be a bad thing…or is it? Let’s take a look at some of the little acts of revenge that the Morning Show uncovered after asking wives on the street about it, and let you be the judge.

https://twitter.com/REX501battalion/status/1301795979981586432

In the top left of the image above we have the “Nori Message”, where the wife leaves a message for her husband on the rice portion of the bento, using nori seaweed for the letters. Here the message spells out “baka” (“idiot”).

In the top right we have the “Shaken Can”, where the wife gives her husband a pre-shaken can of beer which, when he unwittingly opens it, fizzes out everywhere. Note the scorned wife’s wry smile in the background.

While the TV announcers seemed to agree that these two acts of revenge are pretty forgivable, and might even have the couple laughing about it later on, things seem to go downhill from there.

In the middle we have the “Clothes Turned Inside Out”, so that when the husband goes to get dressed, he has to spend time turning his clothes right side out again. That’ll teach him for taking her laundry work for granted!

Then there’s the “Cold Water Attack”, where the wife uses the water temperature control panel to turn off the hot water while her husband is in the shower. Japanese homes usually have a control panel in the kitchen and in the shower, so the husband can easily turn the water back on…but not before suddenly getting drenched in cold water first.

Finally, we have two acts of revenge that might do more harm than good in a relationship. First we have the “Shame Underpants”, where the wife lays out underpants with “Infidelity Prohibited” written on them for her husband when he gets out of the bath. Yes, wives in Japan have been known to lay clothes out for their husbands as part of their housewife duties, and yes, this particular woman says she wrote on them.

Then there’s the “While He’s Sleeping”, where the husband gets his face scribbled on while he sleeps. Here’s hoping he looked in the mirror before heading off to work that day, or there may be no coming back from that one!

So there you have it, some of the little acts of revenge Japanese housewives perform on their husbands to blow off steam. Have you ever performed puchi revenge or had it done to you? Let us know in the comments section below, and don’t forget not all Japanese wives are vengeful – some kidnap their husbands for their own good.

Source: Twitter/@REX501battalion via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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