I have to say that it isn't that unusual for Japanese women to leave their husband if they lose their jobs and are financially destitute. Many Japanese men work such long hours that their marriages tend to suffer.

On a general note. I find it somewhat strange that Mr. Ito lost everything so quickly. Most Japanese strive to keep at least 5 years salary in the bank, compared to the 6 months that is recommended in the US. It is not uncommon for even lower end workers to have $100,000 in savings.
Was Mr. Ito living beyond his means with no savings? Why was he forced into bankruptcy "within months"? Although his story is indeed sad, there are some very real unanswered questions. I would be interested in hearing the whole story, not just the convenient ones that develop the "pathos" angle of the story.

a wife, 3 kids, 2 cars, a mortgage PLUS a wife and 3 kids probably consuming instead of saving if they lived the upper-class life without "old money" upper-class means.

what's the situation with the wife? did she work or was she old school and stay home to support the family? are/were the 3 kids working? the family divorced him!

i wish this guy luck! maybe he did not have the best plan in the world but i bet there is more (as steve richter stated) to tsukasa's story.

at least the family saved face from being "disgraced" by kickin' the ol' man to the curb!

I agree with Mr.Ritcher. I live within the very very end of my means, and cannot imagine how strange it sounds when there are people with unpaid out houses, cars and everything that they loose when their income stops. I guess his wife and kids wont talk to him, to distance from possibility to get their living means seized by bank, so to say assets on one side (ex wife and kids), liabilities on other (Ito's).

.

While I do feel sorry for Ito and others who are at the worst receiving end of this recession, but, I do wonder how can a person be such an accomplished business manager with so little insight of the personal finance management.

From such hieghts of extravagance to this day situation of Ito has some other aspects as well.

And for those who are witnessing the economic recession for the first time, it is indeed going to teach big lessons on managing the personal finances.

I completely agree with Steve Richter....thank you for your comments that I always wondered about reports that seemed to cover somewhat of the truth but not all.

I think it's pretty disgusting that a woman and three children would abandon a man who lost his job in the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. What kind of family values are being displayed here? The relationship is based on money and status? His job was lost through no fault of his own. I am truly surprised and disgusted of this aspect of Japanese culture.

i think dats vey stupid n i agree to the statement above tht japanese have no culture if a women n children leaves a man for money ... relationships should b based on da brick of love ... atleast the women shd have supported his man in his hard times .... give him moral support n hope things wld change n return to normal afr sm time ..

Thank you Itu for sharing what is a valuable lesson

Dear Ito and brothers and sisters who suffer similary
Take it up in prayer with Jesus. He is a God who understands your pains. Please take it up with Him. You are sure of an answer if you commit yourself to Him.
-Pius

We can only speculate on the reason for the sudden dissolution of his business and house. I suspect that he was living beyond his means.

But I hope he ain't foolish enough to pay his ex-"wife" jackdiddly in "alimony." As for the kids, well, if they want food in they mouths, they gonna have to speak to papa about it.

That's the way I'd handle things.

Thank you for your article.

I knew a long time ago about the slow down of the world economy, it was obvious 2 years prior to the actual REAL economic slow down. And be ready, it will GET WORST. It is ashamed that his wife left him. This again show that values have been lost in the sorrow that the world economy has created. It is time for each one of us to make clear choices in what we want to create and live it as an individual as well as a community, this of course with or without MONEY.

I dont feel sorry for this guy, it seems the typical guy who squander his money living in the limit. People worldwide need to be more responsible and thrifty. Austerity is what this world needs.

Dani (Spain).

it s too sentimental & strange to be true . Is not bad as a screenplay for Bolliwood film . Neverthless i wish him luck!

Pius – the less we hear about pointless and meangingless religious waffle the better. Ito will get himself out of this situation on his own. Religion and Gods are nothing more than a crutch

The story of Ito is a common story you can hear almost in any part of the world today. We are living in a historical period. Whatever our individual recipe to live through this period, Prayer is essential to guide us.

In my oppinion if Mr. Ito´s Family left him because now he does not have money he actually never had a real family...
And If what happened with Mr. Ito was happened to my father I would help him until the end of my days... This is love!

Thats a very sad story.I would however like to express my admiration for Ito for his strength and determination to keep trying even when its hard.God Bless you man and its a shame your wife is very stupid.

To Sarah and those generalizing the Japanese:

NOT ALL JAPANESE WOMEN ABANDON THEIR HUSBANDS IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIP.

this is a sad story yes...but comeon for a guy with a good job ,a five bedroom house and 2 cars and he could not save any money!!!
that within months of recession he's lost everything?!!!

please Kyun lah as Steve said let's hear the real story.

Unfortunately, more often than not men and women marry out convenience and necessity than for love in Japanese culture. While it is sad that she would leave him at such a rough time. A large number of women marry men in Japan simply because they can bring home cash. Hence the term... salaryman.

Ito-san is fighting back in his humble way. Did you see the traditional bow and welcome in to his most humble room? The hunt for any work is a most humbling job and that he has fought through to find something is a victory. When things are tough just little victories make huge differences for those coming from economic highs to such economic lows. Sad that his family left him but we don't know whole story there and it is not our business. That would be too intrusive for Ito-san and humiliating again for his family particularly in that culture. Perhaps the family saught refuge with her parents for economic reasons.It has happened before. Who knows what the future will bring. I hope Tsukasa sees more that the Janitor in Ito-san

The divorce is probably is most likely partly financial. The wife gets the house as otherwise the bank would foreclose and the wife + kids would be out on the same streets. Losing face might mean he was still spending when the crunch started to bite and waited to long to slash costs. To lose funds so fast meant he was definitely living on the edge re household budget. He perhaps did not tell the truth to his family till it was too late. Sadly Business's will use even more temporary workers after this crunch ends so they can hire & fire easier and to cope with payroll costs faster when market demands spike and plunge. Super normal rents for business's and homes will have to fall but it will take a longer downturn or government intervention to accelerate that.

i think that Ito story will teach us alot about saving for the future and learning to reduce our spendings within the circumference of this economic recession.

i have same idea with Mike who wrote like this

. What kind of family values are being displayed here? The relationship is based on money and status? His job was lost through no fault of his own. I am truly surprised and disgusted of this aspect of Japanese culture.

I'm an ordinary Japanese. I just want to say that it is not common for lower end workers in Japan to have as much as $100,000 in savings.

Response to mike's comment @ 1118est. Since when does an act of one individual come to represent the cultural norm of a society as a whole? Mr. ABC is an American. He also sells crack to minors. So we can conclude that it is part of American culture to be drug dealers?

Mr.Ito can keep going to start again, we are in Egypt know well how to start again and forget the losses. i am sure he can do it for himself and his kids too
his woman i think she is not good wife,

This is very important to the global economy. I am in High School and do international extemporaneous speaking where we draw a topic and have 10 minutes to prepare a speech about the topic and we can't use the internet. Doing this has made me greatly aware of the global problems.

I believe the CNN correspondent most likely did a long and thorough interview with this man.

Most likely, he probably didn't blow his wealth on gambling or some nonsense or else it wouldn't be a story about a victim of recession to begin with.

So the story implies to me that his family depended on his "bread winning". And since he lost that role, they left him. That is hard for me to comprehend considering the times we are in now. But then again, it could be a trend of sort where he is.

But never the less this is a fascinating touching story about recession and a part of Japan.

Thanks for it..

Japanese women are ICE COLD!

Jesus did this to the world. We shouldnt ask him for a bailout.

@sarah

I agree that it is sad that a family would do this to a father, but this has happened all over the world, the US included.

Also... I'm sure that you are an intelligent person, but using abbreviations like 'n' instead of "and", and 'b' instead of "be" make you sound rather unintelligent. You would do yourself well, to use proper english. Even on the internet, because you will be taken more seriously if you do.

I ask the same question as Steve Richter.

And I also think Ito's life is perhaps more realistic now than before.

I was very shooked it when i read Mr.Ito's story and watched the photo. Japanese people work a lot, just working for family. but I think that It's time to change of a spoiled japanese political system for general Japanese people, not for a japanese politician if the story is ture and many japanese get living conditions as Mr.Ito. also i want to hear other japanese opinions.I am a Japanese, I got married to swiss man and I live in swiss. I was grieved to read the story.

Its naive to think
Ito's situation
Does not exist
outside Japan

In the majority of households in Japan, the wife controls the finances. She is in charge of paying bills and decides how much "pocket money" to give her husband. Ironic considering that he has been the one to earn the money. However, married women are somewhat vulnerable in that the system is not set up for them to be financially independent. It's is complex. I am NOT surprised that Mr. Ito could find himself bankrupt so quickly if his wife had full control of his earnings. It is quite likely that they did have savings and she siphoned it to support herself and their three children. The story is not uncommon here. The greatest tragedy here is that Mr. Ito was viewed as nothing more than a money machine by those "closest" to him. How cold-hearted and pathetic.

Its not about assets its liquidity that got him in trouble.
I bought home in 2006 after it declined in value for $350,000. It was worth $400,000 in 2004/2005.
I put down $150,000 down. Today my equity in home is $200,000 but i owe bank $150,000 and home is valued $160,000.
Thus I have just $10,000 if I have to sell home.
My investments funds declined such that $80,000 in investment worth $35000 in savings. and I have $15,000 in cash.
Now you can see I was worth around $300,000 in 2006 now just around $50,000.I feel from Ito. He did saved money his problem was that he bought assets (house, cars, AAA investments) for far inflated prices.

japan is suffering badly/women and men are very insure..money..family..life/ the loss of human values goes deep into the soceity/some pretend to work towards love, maybe with one hand while the other hand is busy hiding some secret..sex..money..emotion..crime/to better understand the japanese it is important to see how their cultural values hold up on many levels..self..family..gruops..government/anyways the truth is japan is in deep trouble all around/the first world is dangerous and disabling/no wonder japan is toxic/i am american in japan(only 6 months)i feel the true impact//racial..financial...sexual..every level...being married here is not about true love but about survival/without a great resourceful live i would be in the streets/japan needs to wake up and learn to be generous and caring(may take countless generations) or the will fall from their own grace/bubble of prosperity and success/i only hope my wife has a realization to better living, not just for her but especially the kids and other relationships....not too much hope tough as she to has one hand behind her back

Here in Canada, our collective decision has been to have people sleep outside in the cold, rather than live in so small a space. Renting rooms even 6 times that size violate our building and plumbing codes.

It is too bad we Canadians are unwilling to be more flexible, and to accommodate our truly poor citizens.

@Pius: I'm sure Ito-san thanks you for your attempt to capitalize on his current situation in order to "recruit" for Jesus...Arigato, but no arigato.

Ito's story is pathetic. I would have expected him as a strategic manager to make provisions for the future. The wife and the children abandoning him at this crucial time is not the best because it could cause a great psychological imbalance to him. He should relax and put the past behind himself.

am sad about Ito, am working for Japanese in Indonesia and also have some japanese friends here for hangout. U know what, Japanese women not as nice as people think. Yes ,they polite and always say sorry n serve husband,but only aslong as husband working, its not cause of reccession only. The women usually divorce after husband got pension fund, lets say they suffered for long time..working..cleaning house..caring children and caring drunk husband..but once the husband got pension fund..he must share some with wife and then.. bye bye husband!

it happened to my japanese friend's dad :( its not bout they dont have religion or not..its about the culture..we cant say this is bad or this is good , but this is the culture..how they live..we cant change it.

I think doubting on why Mr.Ito he lost everything within months is no point. The fact is he really lost everything he uses to have because of economic recession .The story just to let us know what the situation now in Japan is. Looks like when you want to eat a Burger you have to meet the cow first.

To Mike:
The "family values" you speak of are moot in Japan. In Japan,
pride is valued above everything. In losing his job and his social standing, Ito brought "shame" to his family – so they dropped him.

And before everyone jumps on the wife, keep in mind that Japanese women are far from having any kind of equality with men in this society. She probably left her job after having children (so as not to shame him in front of their acquaintances by continuing to work) and his "failures" represent a type of betrayal.

Japanese society looks very sleek and modern from a distance – all those gadgets! In reality, it is a very cold place, with little respect for women, and an over-emphasis on social position.

There is also little sympathy for the poor. There was a case a year ago where a man who was severely injured died of starvation (something that can take months) in his apartment because his benefits ran out. He was too proud to ask for help. And it was probably just as well – the interviews with his neighbours, who had known him for years and knew that he had worked hard all his life were terribly cruel – comments like "well, he should have found some kind of work" were a common thread.

I believe Ito did not lose, all that he had, just because he lost his job.
There must be more to it.

To mike, sarah: no aspect of japanese culture is being displayed here, its an aspect of life PERIOD, that a wife dumps her husband who's lost his job. It hurts though that his children have abandoned him too. We don't know Ito's story completely, lets not judge him for his financial decisions; a man does what his does to make life work. For the first time since this recession began, I'm scared.

Pius, you are right.

We will have to believe in God and walk in the right path. This pain and suffering is for some time.

In few years everything will be alright.

We shouldn't forget that God loves us very much.

This is a very sad story. I think the traditional Japanese family had lived way over their means. Most likely wife and kids were not working or in school as dependents leaving the father as the only source of income. The father may have way overly "stretched" for the life style of "RICH and Famous"...

While I agree that it is pretty lousy that his wife and two children left and won't even speak to him 0– I don't think you can generalize to "Japanese society", as some posters above have done. I am certain that we can find similar stories in the US and elsewhere

Once had a friend with this sort of situation (yes, he's Japanese too and even wealthier than this guy) - he lost all he had because he gave it ALL to his wife and children.

Maybe the reporter should've clarified if this was also Ito's case or some other reason, before we jump the gun and judge his situation. Wouldn't you find it strange, after all, that someone with this sort of work ethic to not know about savings and investment? Many parts of the world are in recession so this is not an unusual case – in any country for that matter.

Sorry, but telling him to turn to Jesus is so useless.

Should he ask Jesus to return him to the status he once held? Is that what Jesus does, answer prayers for money and success? Is every devout Christian who prays for it a financial success?

Or should he ask Jesus to make him satisfied with his lot in life? Will Jesus make him feel better while he sits in his closet-sized home?

Luckily this guy did the right thing... he got to work in whatever job he could find and is rebuilding his life through his own initiative and hard work.

If you find the idea of Jesus or God comforting, fine, but don't expect him to help you in any material way.

Shame is an tremendous driving force is Japan. "Keeping up appearances" can often be more important than love. Remember, Japan still has people who use "omia", which are arranged meetings for the purpose of marriage. This means that the duties and roles of marriage are often more important to some Japanese than the loving relationship.

Also note that traditionally, the man works to provide the salary, but turns it over to the wife who manages it. It would not be unusual for Mr. Ito to have no detailed knowledge of the level of household debts and expenses.

Don't pity Ito or despise the wife so much, Let’s bear in mind that a divorce woman gets full state assistance. I think they’re doing this for a mutual benefits. Ito could be loan riddled as is with most Japanese and he could be doing it to neutralize any legal actions.
In all he should be able to go back to his family once he is in a good state again.

I am not surprised his situation... Maybe his wife woud have some reasons if he has huge debt or something. Well, I heard like his situations, recently. I am Japanese so I am getting sad about our country society. A few years ago, Japan was changed by Mr Koizumu policy that's why right now, so many temporary workers because it is cheap to save workers. Actually we have 2 safety net which mean unemployed insurance and livelihood protection. Usually a company going down then they laid off temporary workers. Temporary workers can get insurance immediately but some bad companies say to gorverment that they just wanted to quit. It is totally difference the way to get insurance. Our country's unemployed system is if temporary workers would work for 12 months, they could get one but if their work term weren't enough to 12 months, they couldn't get one. It's very tricky! So I guess Mr. Ito might not enough to work. Second safety net is livelihood protection. It is hard to get it because municipal goverment really are hesitated to pay it. They look like they don't want to add their debt, as well. I think temporary workers are very weak position... I can tell our country's system is getting start to collapse...

This story of Mr. Ito as presented suffers from incompleteness. How did he become so poor so quickly? Surely with a house and two cars, he had assets. Was he heavily in debt? If so he is unusual for the Japanese who have an extremely high savings rate. What happened to his savings? I suspect his rapid fall into extreme poverty had to do with his divorce– the courts gave most of the assets to his wife. Thus this is really a family law story more than an economic story about the Japanese recession. Japan's bad economy amplified the divorce problem; the real reason for his poverty.

I guess for some women money is all that counts. Once the man loses the wallet they run. What ever happened to real love? Is money all there is? So when times get tough you leave?

Instead of his wife and children abandoning Mr. Ito, they should stick together as a family and try to work things out. They have no shame in what they did, I would be ashamed to leave a member of my family.

His wife and children should try to find work instead of putting all the blame on him. I'm sure the whole family benefited during the good times. Now that the easy life is gone, blame Mr. Ito.

It's not Mr. Ito's fault that the global economy is heading towards a complete economic collapse.

They may have broken his heart, but they did not break the will of the man. Mr. Ito is cleaning bathrooms, but that shows that he is not giving up and is a hard worker, unlike his wife and kids who are probably free loaders.

Good luck Mr. Ito

I live in Japan, and I can tell you that the safety net here is very weak. In the past, corporations took care of there people so there was not that much of a need. Now that the companies are taking up American style dog-eat-dog ways, people are hurting. Its particulary sad, that people world wide are now suffering while the wall street clowns who destroyed the world economy are now living of there obscene wealth.

Its infuriating that guys like John Thain and Stan O'Neal who have caused so much pain worldwide, can retire to there 14 rooms mansions and never have to work again.

I feel for Mr. Ito , however , some Japanese men tends to live above their means .
They love others to see that they can flash the dough , example , visit a tavern , karaoke- bar and impress others around, on how much money they can go through in one outing .
Wish the rest of us can learn and don't forget about the realism that can happen, if don't change out egos and habits.

take it a little bit slow before you start accusing people for living over the limit. are you unaware that the current capitalist system puts students in debt even at first year of their college, starting in the form of student loans ? everything is forced on credit. you have to get an apartment at least, near where you work. you have to get a car to get to work. these are all acquired through loans. else it would take decades for any student to get a house to live in, or 3-4 years to get a car to drive to work. they start life in debt. if, they cant pay their loan installments due to any reason, they lose everything.