Japanese Wives and Money

www.anglophonie.fr
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Japanese Wives Controlling The Family Purse Strings
(BBC, 2012)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19746705
It’s a pay day for Yoshihiro Nozawa. As well as a home-made lunchbox, his wife gives him a monthly
pocket money of thirty-thousand yen or just over three hundred and fifty dollars.
Despite being the breadwinner, that’s all the money his wife will let him spend on himself over the next
thirty days.
I started controlling the household budget when I became a housewife, after having children.
Good education and private lessons cost a lot, so we’ve decided that it’s easier for him to be on a fixed
allowance. I try to ease his burden by making him a lunch box.
Lunchtime is usually a solitary affair and even though it’s a sunny summer day, Mr. Nozawa says his life
can get a bit dull. His only luxury are cigarettes after lunch, which he spends one-third of his pocket
money on.
Well Mr Nozawa might be eating his lunch alone, but in fact he’s not unique. Three quarters of Japanese
household budgets are controlled by a woman and, making matters worse for the man, is the fact that the
average amount of their pocket money has halved since the early 1990’s. Just as Japan’s economic
conditions have tightened, so have the country’s purse strings.
All the couples are also feeling the pinch. Forty-seven-year-old Taisaku Kubo has been getting just over
six hundred dollars a month from his wife for the past fifteen years. And just like in the rest of the
business world, he has to try to negotiate a pay rise each year.
But despite his best efforts, his wife makes a counter-presentation explaining why it can’t be done: the
realities of the bottom line played out a long way from the office.
When she starts drawing a pie chart of our household budget, there’s no way I can win the argument.
I’ve given up my car, motor bike and many expensive hobbies.
There’s one thing he has managed to keep hold of and that’s his drinking budget, but even that has
shrunk.
On average, Japanese businessmen now spend less than forty dollars a night to lift their spirits, which is
almost half of what they used to spend just three years ago.
Luckily though, they still seem to have enough cash in their pockets to put a smile on their faces.
Mariko Oi, BBC News, Tokyo
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
purse strings
home-made lunchbox
just over
breadwinner
les cordons de la bourse
boîte contenant un déjeuner fait maison
un peu plus de
soutien de la famille
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5.
6.
7.
8.
over the next thirty days
household budget
a good education
a fixed allowance
9. to ease his burden
10. even though
11. can get a bit dull
12. making matters worse
13. average amount
14. has halved
15. the early 1990’s
16. have tightened
17. so have the country’s purse strings
18. feeling the pinch
19. a pay rise
20. makes a counter- presentation
21. the realities of the bottom line
22. played out a long way from the office
23. pie chart
24. there’s no way
25. the argument
26. I’ve given up
27. has managed to keep hold of
28. has shrunk
29. on average
30. $40 a night
31. to lift their spirits
32. they used to spend
33. just three years ago
34. luckily though
sur les trente prochains jours
budget du ménage
une scolarité de qualité
argent de poche fixe
lit. ‘pour apaiser son fardeau’ = pour lui faciliter les choses
même si
peut devenir un peu ennuyeuse
lit. ‘pour empirer les choses’ = et comme si ça ne suffisait pas
somme moyenne
a été divisée par 2
le début des années 90
se sont resserrées
les cordons de la bourse du pays également
lit. ressentent le pincement = ressentir la douleur
augmentation de leur paie (argent de poche)
fait un contre-argument
les réalités du résultat financier
se sont joués (décidés!) loin du bureau = à la maison!
graphique camembert
il n’y a aucune chance
la discussion, “dispute”
j’ai renoncé à
a réussi à conserver
a diminué, rétréci
en moyenne
40 $ par nuit
pour leur remonter le moral
qu’ils avaient l’habitude de dépenser
il y a seulement 3 ans
heureusement néanmoins