The 15th of each month is a big day for 36-year-old Yoshihiro Nozawa: it is the day he gets paid. But every month, he hands over his entire salary to his wife Masami. She controls the household budget and gives him a monthly pocket money of 30,000 yen. Despite being the breadwinner, that is all the money he can spend on himself over the next 30 days.

According to Shinsei Bank which has been researching the trend since 1979, the average monthly pocket money was 39,600 yen last year.

And to make things harder for the men, that compares with 76,000 yen in 1990 when people thought that Japan's economy was at its peak. That was one year after the nation's benchmark stock index, the Nikkei 225, reached a record high of 38,916.

But share prices fell sharply in the 1990s and have never since come close to that level.

And just as the performance of Japanese companies deteriorated, businessmen's pocket money fell with it.

So today, those whose wives don't make lunch boxes try to cap their daily lunch budget to one coin: 500 yen - about $6.50.

As in most cities, prices vary wildly according to location, decor and the standard of food and drink on offer.

But in many places 500 yen would barely be enough for a bowl of noodles or a McDonald's burger.

Their drinking budget has also shrunk to a record low.

On average, they only spend 2,860 yen on a night of drinking which is almost half of what they used to spend just three years ago.

That does not allow for a great many half litre bottles of Asahi - the average price is around 700 yen.