When Japanese men cut spending on drinking, something is wrong. A recent survey of male workers aged 20 to 59 by Shinsei Financial Co. found that spending on alcohol has fallen to its lowest level since the survey started in 1999.
Of course, that drop has more to do with a change in the outlook of Japanese wives, who tend to manage their husbands' income. The cutback on going out for a drink after work shows how deeply the economic downturn has sunk into daily financial worries of the Japanese.
The report found that men's pocket money, traditionally handed out by wives who control the family budget, was the first expense to be cut and the last expense to be raised. The number of times a male worker went out for a drink after work fell to 2.4 times a month from 2.9 times a month last year.