A company in Japan is offering short-term apartment rentals to couples, promoting them as quiet “retreats” that help couples minimize arguments while stuck at home during extended periods of social distancing.
"Please consult us before thinking about divorce just because of the coronavirus," Kasoku, a Tokyo-based company, advertises its special Covid-era service.
Taking advantage of the many hotels that are still empty due to being closed during this time, Kasoku Company has opened this service with extremely attractive prices. These apartments cost 4,400 yen, or about 800,000 VND/day. This is a very reasonable price when renting a room in the expensive city of Tokyo. Not only that, this service also comes with 30 minutes of free divorce consultation with a legal official so that couples who are having problems can have their questions answered and think again.
"Among the clients using the service is a wife who said she ran away after a heated argument with her husband. Another female client said she wanted to have time for herself because she was too tired to take care of her children all day since the school was closed," Amano, a representative of Kosuke, revealed.
The hashtag "Corona-divorce" is currently trending on Japanese Twitter. NHK also devoted part of its morning show to giving tips on avoiding marital conflict as couples are stuck together in cramped apartments. One of the reasons for the marital stress on Japanese women during social distancing is that they have to take on the majority of responsibility for childcare and housework, even if they have careers and jobs like their husbands.
Amano also said that the company did not have solid data to confirm that the divorce rate was increasing in Japan. But when they saw media reports of a rapid increase in divorce rates in China and Russia during the period of social distancing, they came up with this new idea.
The company currently has about 500 apartments across Japan. The company promotes its products mainly through word of mouth, people recommending each other. This rental service also attracts people facing serious problems, including women who are victims of domestic violence. As of the end of April this year, the service had nearly 100 Japanese people, mainly in Tokyo, using this service.
On April 16, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a nationwide state of emergency as the number of infections rose to 8,626 and the death toll neared 200. This is the first time a nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Japan. Provincial and municipal governments have the right to request schools and many businesses to close until the Covid-19 epidemic can be controlled.
