Tokyo - Home is not sweet for the vast majority of Japanese couples, who feel exhausted and believe inconsiderate spouses are to blame, a survey said on Monday.
Seventy-six percent of married people in Japan's three biggest areas - Tokyo, Osaka and Aichi prefectures - feel tired at home, according to the online poll conducted by Tokyo-based Soy Peptide Health Forum in May.
Sixty-three percent of those who complain of fatigue say their spouses cause stress against 37 percent who do not think so, according to the survey, which drew responses from 1 312 married people in their 30s and 40s.
Men say they are exhausted because they are nagged by their wives or asked to clean up, while women point to their husbands' unco-operative attitudes, the poll said.
The survey showed that 42 percent of husbands go into their shell when they feel tired at home, while 58 percent of wives say they voice their irritation.
So what's the solution? Forty-seven percent of men say they want their wives to tell them, "Take it easy," while 43 percent of the women want their husbands to offer to cook.
"Greater consideration is needed from partners when they are exhausted, along with actual actions," the forum, set up by researchers and corporate employees, advised on its website.
Japan is braced for a demographic crisis with its population falling as more young people decide against starting families. - Sapa-AFP