Japanese men are bringing lunch to work as the deepest postwar recession shrinks their paychecks and pocket money.
Nine percent of men started packing "bento" boxed lunches this year because of the economic slump, according to an annual survey published by Shinsei Financial Co. in Tokyo yesterday. Men surveyed said they ate home-made bento, which typically contain rice, meat and vegetables, more frequently than buying food or dining out.
In a country where wives often manage family finances, married men are seeing their daily allowances cut, leaving them with less to spend on lunch. Wages fell for an 11th month in April, extending their longest losing streak in five years.
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"Pocket money for businessmen, especially fathers, is the first to be cut and last to be raised in Japan," said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "Even once the economy begins to recover, it`ll take a couple of years or more for men to be happy enough to spend."
Men with full-time jobs spend an average 590 yen ($6.10) on lunch each day, up from 570 yen in 2008, which was the lowest since Shinsei Financial, a unit of Shinsei Bank Ltd., began asking the question eight years ago.
The bento craze is part of a wider trend in Asia`s biggest economy. "Danshi Gohan" (Food for Men) is the top-selling recipe book on Amazon.co.jp and is currently sold out at the online retailer.

Pocket money

Men`s monthly allowances, or "kozukai," fell to an average 45,600 yen from 46,300 yen a year ago and a peak of 76,000 yen at the height of Japan`s economic bubble in 1990, Shinsei Financial said.
Wives look after their spouse`s earnings in about 40 percent of Japanese households, double the number managed by husbands, according to a Rakuten Research report released in March. The remaining 40 percent share the task, handle their finances separately, or don`t use a particular method.
Kazuo Ito, a 62-year-old taxi driver, says he had to cut his lunch budget after his pay fell more than 10 percent. Ito only eats once during his 20-hour shifts and has stopped buying cans of coffee, instead drinking from water fountains.
"It`s devastating," Ito said. "My wife would be furious if I asked her for more money."
The number of households who said their income declined from a year earlier rose to 44.6 percent this year from 34.1 percent in 2008, a Cabinet Office survey showed this week.
Some 43 percent of the 500 men surveyed by Shinsei Financial said they cut back on eating out this year. Some cheaper restaurants may be benefiting from cost-conscious workers who still dine out.
Ohsho Food Services Corp., a restaurant chain that sells half a dozen dumplings for 220 yen, posted record profit last fiscal year, and has outperformed the benchmark Topix stock index this year. Hiday Hidaka Corp., a Chinese food restaurant whose noodles start at 390 yen, also reported record earnings last year. (Bloomberg)