wet leaf syndrome

This is a translation of the Japanese nureochiba, literally, ‘wet fallen leaf’, a term used by Japanese women to denigrate their retired husbands who, suddenly stuck at home with no occupation and no friends, seem to be like a wet leaf stuck to the wife’s shoe. The wife who is used to having a certain autonomy in the home and who has developed a circle of friends finds the constant intrusion of the husband into home affairs extremely unsettling. 

In Japan the situation has been particularly confronting because of the Japanese work culture which takes the men completely out of the home for their working lives. This is made worse by the fact that children no longer expect their parents to live with them, leaving the parents with no other people in the home but themselves.

The term wet leaf syndrome has been adopted to describe such a malady in the West.  The health problems identified in the syndrome range from stomach ulcers, palpitations, depression, tension headaches, to muscle aches and rashes. The syndrome was identified in 1991 by Dr Nobuo Kurokawa.  In Australia it has come up in the accounts of people who have taken early retirement thinking that life after work will be a dream. They then discover that the loss of identity after work can be a bit of a nightmare. Their partners can experience wet leaf syndrome.