In the traditional Japanese concept, it has always been the responsibility of women to concentrate on housework at home instead of working after marriage or childbirth, so that their husbands who work outside the home have no worries.
This concept is still recognized by many Japanese people even today, and being a full-time housewife is as much an option for Japanese women as a profession. But today's news makes people can't help but think, is it really worth it to be a full-time housewife and work for the family and her husband all your life?
Keiji is an executive at a stock exchange in Tokyo, and he has a high degree and a good position, so his work has been relatively smooth. 59 years old this year, already retired, but Keiji has already paid off the mortgage, has enough savings, and is about to receive a pension of 20 million yen.
And Keiji's wife, Yuka, has been a full-time housewife for many years, keeping the house in good order, and the couple get along well.
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Originally, in this long married life, they have been living a peaceful life and have not had any major marital crises. However, Keiji is not satisfied with such a beautiful and peaceful life, and he has always hidden his dissatisfaction with his wife.
So in the year of Keiji's retirement, he filed for divorce from his wife Yuka.
This made Yuka and her family puzzled, why did Keiji give up such a happy life, and what did Yuka do to make him make such a major decision as divorce, after learning the reason for Keiji's divorce, even the originally filial son couldn't help but turn his face with Keiji.
Keiji said that although Yuka is a qualified housewife, her nagging makes her upset, and she is already very stressful to go to work, and it is really uncomfortable to face Yuka's nagging when she goes home, and the discomfort makes him want to divorce for a long time. And now that I have finally retired, I hope to start a carefree second life.
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Keiji even specifically said the content of Yuka's nagging, such as: "If you come home late, tell me early, because I have to prepare dinner", "I want you to smoke less because it's not good for your health", "Let's save money for retirement", I didn't expect these words to be so disliked by Keiji that they were obviously normal, and even cared about him.
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In fact, the reason why Keiji chose to divorce very firmly is also because he believes that "middle-aged divorce" is a common thing. Indeed, in recent years, "middle-aged divorce" has become a very common social phenomenon in Japan, and it has even become a new type of option, and the media even advocates that it is a "second life".
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the proportion of middle-aged divorces reached a record high of 21.5% in 2020. On the other hand, according to a survey, 8.9% of divorced couples regret their divorce in middle age.
Keiji and Yuka are not people with fierce temperaments, so even in this situation, the two did not break out into a large-scale quarrel. Yuka hopes that the two can each make a little concession and keep the family intact, after all, the relationship between husband and wife for many years is also the fruit of their painstaking management. But Keiji has a very resolute attitude, and even if it is difficult, he will divorce Yuka.
Their 30-year-old eldest son, Takuro, heard about this and was very angry at his father Keiji's behavior, but he was also very worried about his mother, so he asked his mother Yuka to move to his house.
Takuro has been trying to reconcile with this, hoping to reconcile his parents. But no matter how much he persuaded him, Keiji just refused to give in, and finally Yuka broke down and agreed to the divorce.
Keiji and Yuka decided to divorce, and just when everyone thought that this farce was finally going to end, something even more outrageous happened.
They agreed to the divorce and began to go through the formalities, so they discussed the division of property after the divorce, because all the income in the marriage belongs to the joint property of the husband and wife, so the house, savings, including the 20 million pension that Keiji will receive are divided into half to Yuka.
But Keiji and Yuka don't know much about the law, so the eldest son Takuro took them to understand the division of property, and what was unexpected was that Keiji actually opposed the distribution of half of the property to Yuka, he said that he didn't cheat and didn't neglect the family, why should he divide his property to Yuka.
Keiji was very angry, and he rightly said, "This is the money I earned from my work." If I don't have to pay alimony, then I don't need to divide the property. ”
He also refused to agree to the division of the pension, saying "I will not agree. Then he kicked Yuka out of the house completely, thinking that Yuka was now living in her son Takuro's house anyway, and she didn't need to come back and didn't need to give her money.
Seeing this, even the editor thinks that although Keiji is a social elite, he is an out-and-out scumbag. Not only did he unload the mill and kill the donkey as soon as he retired, but he wanted to divorce his wife, who had contributed to the family all his life, for very unreasonable reasons; even if the divorce was over, he did not plan to give his wife a penny, let his wife, who had no income in the first place, leave the house, and now he even kicked her out of the house.
Fortunately, Japanese law strictly stipulates that in the event of a divorce, there must be a "fair distribution of the property formed by the husband and wife in the course of living together". A common question here is the definition of "property arising in the course of living together". Because one of the most common misconceptions about this part is that if the husband earns money and the wife is a housewife, then there is no need to share the property. Keiji is such a misunderstood person.
But legally, the husband is able to work outside the home solely because his wife, who is a full-time housewife, supports his work by taking on all the household chores.
For more than 30 years, Yuka has been a full-time housewife, in part to support Keiji's work. Without Yuka's support, Keiji would not have been able to continue working. Therefore, Keiji's property is not the result of his hard work alone, but the result of the joint efforts of their husband and wife.
The lawyer pointed out that although Keiji proposed that Yuka lived with his children and his spouse and had sufficient funds, it did not seem that he did not need the security of life after the divorce, and that Keiji did not have any blameworthy mistakes in the marriage, such as adultery or violence, so it did not seem necessary to pay damages that led to the divorce.
However, these are not grounds for dispensing with the division of property. Even in the absence of these reasons, the division of property is necessary as a fair distribution of property formed in the course of the couple's life together.
The court requires that the division of property be ultimately decided by the spouses through negotiation, and if the negotiation fails, through mediation. Regarding the proportion of property division, the court ruled that even if the wife is a housewife, in principle, she should receive one-half of the property, and Yuka will not divide the property less because she is a housewife who does not work.
In addition, the division of property is decided on the basis of the actual situation and has nothing to do with the nominee. Even if the main assets such as the house, savings, and car are in Keiji's name, these assets will be divided in half taking into account Yuka's contribution to the family.
No matter how Keiji complains about the fact that "you didn't earn a penny" and how he emphasizes that "the property is in my name and should not be divided", this will not change. In addition, if certain conditions such as payment and amount fixation are met, unpaid pension may also be subject to property division. Therefore, the final result of the division of the property between the two is that all the property, including the 20 million yen pension, will be divided between the husband and wife in half.
As for the part about pensions, there are two types: agreement division and No. 3 division. Division No. 3 refers to a system in which the wife of a salaryman or a full-time housewife can claim to receive one-half of the employee's pension for the duration of the marriage.
Pension splitting not only protects the retirement of housewives who receive a small pension after divorce in the first place, but also reflects the contribution of housewives to the family in the pension system. Therefore, Keiji's opposition did not change anything. Although his dissatisfaction lasted until the end, under the persuasion of his son Takuro, he finally accepted the fact of the pension split.
Now, after the divorce, Keiji regrets his decision to divorce very much, because the divided property does not support him to live the carefree and free life he imagined before, and he feels very remorseful.
And because of Keiji's series of behaviors, after the divorce, his son Takuro refused to meet him anymore, and he didn't let his grandson meet him, and other family members were also very alienated and rejected by him, so Keiji had to make other plans for the pension plan.
It's really thanks to the justice of the law that people like Keiji can't succeed in their schemes. Since they got married at the beginning, made a vow, and have gone through decades of ups and downs together, even if they can't get by, they really shouldn't monopolize their property.
In fact, being a housewife is not an inevitable choice for wives, and it is only right that people should be grateful for contributing to the family. Fortunately, the complete legal system has put an end to this kind of person who unloads the mill and kills the donkey and wants to take advantage of the other half, otherwise what should a housewife like Yuka do in retirement.