I haven’t actually spent Japanese New Year with my in-laws, but from other occasions where the extended family gather together, it’s usually my mother-in-law who does everything. My wife will help her. My father-in-law just eats, drinks and gets merry with the relatives. So i guess gender roles are similar to the Koreans.

I won’t say that my father-in-law completely leeches off his wife though. He fixes things around the house and transports the rice to the rice refining machine etc. I think the Japanese have very defined gender roles - not as fluid as us Singaporeans.

I think it’s hard to generalise Singaporeans. I’m sure that the burden of Chinese New Year falls squarely on the wives in some families while both men and women pull their weight in others. Though there has been a trend of having the reunion dinner outside the house at restaurants so that no one has to deal with the hassle of preparing and cleaning up.