In Japan, husbands often hand over their pay packets to their wives, who are the chief financial controllers for the household. Husbands then receive a fraction of their pay in the form of a monthly allowance, which has to cover costs such as cell phone charges, lunches and all-important networking and relations-building nomikai, or work drinking parties.
According to a survey by Shinsei Bank, the average office worker receives an allowance of 39,600 yen (US$398) a month. But when the average cost for attending a drinking party is 2,860 yen ($28.75), and one lunch is an average of 510 yen ($5.13) a day, many workers are now choosing to skip out on after work drinks. What they don’t realise is that this attempt to save some yen is actually jeopardising their careers.
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Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
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Osaka governor suggests lowering voting age to 0 to curb population decline
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Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
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Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
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Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
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Japanese toilets become even more high-tech with new floating panels
Creator of Rurouni Kenshin manga/anime avoids jail time in child pornography possession case
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