Regarding Michael Hoffman's Aug. 31 article, "Married or single, Japan is a desolate country": I have a few elder moms as students, all with adult sons living at home.
In my opinion, it's all the mothers' fault. They raise kids to be dependent on someone to cook and clean for them, to do their laundry and pretty much everything else that the "Western man" is raised to do by himself.
I'm not blaming all Japanese moms, but at least Showa Era moms didn't give their kids enough "life skills."
My Japanese guy friends are always surprised that I can "cook" or that I help do the laundry. They always tell me, "That's your wife's job."
Yeah, if you live in the 1950s.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.