commuter wife; wife who lives separately and visits regularly
Describes a marital arrangement where the wife maintains a separate residence but frequently visits her husband, often to manage household tasks. The term can carry a slightly informal or colloquial tone.
She is a commuter wife, coming to her husband's apartment only on weekends.
The commuter-wife lifestyle offers freedom for both, but there is also loneliness.
Compound of 通い (kayoi, 'commuting' or 'going back and forth') and 妻 (tsuma, 'wife'), with rendaku voicing of つま to づま. The term likely emerged in modern Japanese to describe a non-cohabiting wife who visits regularly.