@Haali, don't move to Japan.
kotaku.com/the-world-of-japanese-husband-salaries-506417591

Yeah, I would not stand for that at all Alex!

If I lived with my boyfriend and both of us would work I'd insist on paying my part of the expanses. I'm not saying 50/50 cause if he earns a lot more than me that would be impossible. The point is I don't want to be dependent on my boyfriend, imo relationships work the best if people are equal in everything. So if she expects you to pay for everything even though she has income just talk to her and if you cannot solve it break up.

As for married life: I think it's more complicated than bf&gf relationship. Personally I can say that I don't see anything wrong in wife managing household finances. My mother always does that and no one has a reason to complain. I think that most of girls are better prepared to take care of family finances than guys.

It's easy to criticize Japanese culture without knowing it. Most of Japanese man work all days and spend evenings drinking with their co-workers, so if not for the limited pocket money most of them would waste their salaries on beer and ktv girls. Also because of jobs that consume almost all of their time they are not aware of details of managing the household. For example if he never does groceries how can he know how much money his wife needs to prepare dinner? It's a centuries old tradition, for hundreds of years Japanese women managed their husbands finances and there's no need to stop it now. I have some Korean and Japanese friends and for them letting their wives control all their money is as natural as breathing.
If you are in a relationship with a foreigner you should be prepared to face all kinds of problems resulting from the cultural differences.

people should move with the times. Just because people have done something for centuries - so what? Centuries are completely insignificant, even in our species brief history of 100,000 years or so.

@haali
My wife complained that I was running through my salary like water. So I gave her the bank card a few years ago - never looked back, happier than a pig in poo poo. It wasn't a cultural issue - as @HFCAMPO put it - it was an issue of communication. For several months this conversation would come up - and I got tired of giving monthly accounting reports. Now she can't complain (too much) about cash flow and comments frequently about how expensive raising a family is. Actually - one of the biggest expenditures was our grocery shopping - I'd shop at western-ish stores (walmart, carrefour, metro) and she'd hit the wet markets - which decreased our monthly expenditures by almost 40% and improved the quality of our groceries. My opportunities to buy junk food was significantly curtailed - but I'm healthier for it - so still a win-win...but I'm a lucky guy - I met and married a great gal with a mature and responsible outlook on life.

Are you looking to marry eye candy - or is your spouse your best friend - someone of substance with depth?

She's a good lass.

@'Should' is an interesting verb.

What works for some doesn't work for others.

@ laotou

Good for u man!!!!

The gf and I split the rent down the middle. Everything else is just one of us picking up the tab and the next time the other one takes care of it but without keeping tracking of it too much. That and frequent gifts that must be reciprocated. Im from the US and she is Japanese. Works out well. Tell her to pick up some of the slack and accept a bit of your culture as well. Its a two way street.

my wife is old fashioned. when we dated and lived to together i was expected to pay. now we are married she pay s most of the big bills including mortgage as she earns a lot more than me.