父親：俺の言う通りにしないと、お前とは離婚するぞ。
娘：お母さん、お父さんの言うこと聞いた方がいいよ。
母親：お父さん、空威張りしているだけですよ。心配しな
いで大丈夫。
Kara-ibari
Chichioya: Ore no iu toori ni shinai to omae to wa rikon suru
zo.
Musume: Okaasan, otoosan no iu koto kiita hooga iiyo.
Hahaoya: Otoosan, kara-ibari shite iru dake desu yo. Shinpai
shinai de daijoobu.
Father: If you don't do as I say, I'll divorce you!
Daughter: Mum, I'd listen to him if I were you.
Mother: Don't take any notice of him. He's only trying
to sound tough; he doesn't mean it.
Kara-ibari means to put on a show of strength that is only surface deep.
There are several other words which are formed using the prefix kara- (empty): kara-namida (forced tears); kara-genki (putting on a cheerful face); kara-nenbutsu (mouthing the words to a prayer without putting your heart into it).
Recently, fathers have been losing some of the respect they used to command. Some say that this is partly because their children cannot physically see them working as a result of a rise in the number of white-collar jobs that require fathers to work away from home.
Others say that the practice of paying their wages through direct bank transfer deprives fathers of an opportunity to make their presence as the breadwinner felt as strongly as in the past.
Whatever the reason, if the father really commands any respect in the family, katei no naka de kara-ibari shite miseru hitsuyo nado nai hazu da. (He shouldn't have to prove his authority by throwing his weight around at home.)
In this conversation the father refers to himself as ore, rather than boku. This is what men tend to do when they start to get high and mighty as boku sounds too weak. He also uses the masculine ending, zo, to finish his sentences; again, yo would sound too mild here. And in the same vein, he addresses his wife as omae, a term she would never use with him. I feel like saying to the father of this family, Otosan, kara-ibari nado shinakute mo, minna anata wo sonkei shite imasu yo. (Everyone respects you, without your having to put on a big macho display.)