More women in Japan turn to recovery groups to battle alcoholism
By Rino Yoshida
Popular images of drinking in Japan often involve office workers sharing toasts and casting off their inhibitions. But there's a hidden dark side: more and more women in Japan are drinking heavily, some to a dangerous degree, and becoming addicts in the process.
Shino Usui, a pharmacist and organizer of an alcoholism recovery peer group at a hospital in western Japan, can attest to the fact that the ratio of female drinkers in the country is rising at an alarming rate.
As someone who used to hit the bottle daily, she recognizes that combating alcoholism as a woman in a society where men are normally seen as the heavy drinkers has become a sensitive, often shameful topic.
Health experts say that due to hormonal influences, women are more prone to becoming alcoholics in the short term.
Alcoholism is socially stigmatized as a male disease in Japan, and there are few recovery programs designed to address the concerns and experiences of women.
According to the health ministry, the number of outpatients with alcohol dependency was approximately 108,000 in fiscal 2021. The percentage of those who drink in amounts that increase the risk of lifestyle-related diseases was 14.1 percent for men and 9.5 percent for women in 2023. The ratio for the latter increased over a decade.
On a recent day at Sanko Hospital, a facility for addiction treatment in the port city of Takamatsu on the island of Shikoku, a group of women attending one such program raised paper cups of green tea in a toast.
Women belonging to a branch of the All Nippon Abstinence Association call themselves "amethysts." In the West, the gemstones are traditionally believed to offer protection against drunkenness.
The Ametalk! program has been held every week at the Sanko hospital since it began last October. It's named after a popular Japanese TV comedy.
"We need a place where women can talk about their unique problems and laugh with each other," said Usui, 48.
As they struggle with sobriety, the women share their experiences, including episodes about trying to conceal their problem drinking from family and friends.
One participant revealed that she opens her "chuhai" shochu cans as trains pass outside her home to avoid her husband hearing the sound of the pull tabs.
Others tell anecdotes about being shamed for being female alcoholics, or how they avoid other alcoholics peer groups where the majority are men.
"In groups like that, I can't say that I get so wasted that I sometimes get urinary incontinence," said one woman.
At the age of 31, Usui says her drinking increased drastically due to stress from her job, housework and childcare, not to mention the death of her father. She would drink about four pints a day -- the equivalent of one 720-milliliter bottle of sake.
Since joining the group, she has been sober for four years.
"Addiction cannot be overcome alone. This program is for women, those who had no choice but to turn to alcohol, so they can speak openly about their experiences without feeling shame and start living their best lives again," Usui said.
One woman in her 40s began drinking beer in her 20s and could not give it up. She continued to deny her addiction for 17 years, despite her mother's efforts to persuade her to seek professional help.
"I was afraid to admit it because I saw it as something that happens to men," she said, adding that she joined the program because "women are easy to talk to and we can do our best together."
Shun Umino, director of Sanko Hospital, noted that the number of female drinkers has been increasing since the early 2000s. He says the increase is attributable to more drink ads targeting women, as well as the stresses of work and childrearing for women joining the workforce.
Women with drinking problems often struggle with traumatic experiences such as eating disorders, depression, and sexual assault and abuse.
"To achieve recovery, it's essential to address the individual patient by taking into account gender differences. We also have to raise awareness to eliminate prejudice against addiction," Umino said.
© KYODO
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