Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
HESOKURI
臍繰り
secret savings
In Japanese families, the wife is usually in control of the household purse strings. Most Japanese husbands lack the time or inclination to balance bank accounts and pay bills. Financial disbursements and budgeting are considered to be important aspects of household management--the fulltime pursuit of most married Japanese women.
Sometimes housewives put aside a bit of money as a “secret savings.” The purpose might be to cover unforeseen emergency expenditures, to buy gifts for family members, or plain old “mad money.” (Japanese enjoy the occasional shopping spree as much as anyone.)
This money is excluded from the household accounts, and is usually hidden in a place where other family members are unlikely to find it. Sometimes even the housewives forget where they put their secret savings--and such a blunder is a stock comic element in Japanese sitcoms and comics.
Although the heso-kuri is generally associated with housewives, husbands sometimes set aside secret savings too. Many men keep their secret savings in a locked desk drawer at the workplace.