In Mainichi Shinbun Population Problems Research Council (Ed.), Cho Shoshika Jidai no Kazoku Ishiki (pp. Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Dai 14kai Shusshou Doukou Kihonn Chousa: Kekkon to Shussann-Fuufu. Marriage in Japan, marriage information, U.S. Įmbassy of the United States, Tokyo, Japan. ĬDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), US Department of Health and Human Services. Shoshika ni Kansuru Kokusai Ishiki Chousa. New York: American Book Company.ĬAO (Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan). The family: From institution to companionship (3rd ed.). Tokyo: The University of Tokyo Press.īurgess, E. Arranged marriage and romantic marriageĪtoh, M.Single people wishing to get married should try to find a better half, rather than the best, through positive participations in kon-katsu activities. A marriage is the product of mutual understanding and the efforts of two persons. Marriage is an ongoing process at which two individuals must work. Furthermore, the current government will extend monetary support to marriage services organized by municipal offices effective in the 2014 fiscal year. Upon giving births to their first babies, cohabiting couples are most likely to resolve their cohabiting unions by the traditional marriage.Īttempting to provide young people with mate selection opportunities, various kon-katsu services (mate-seeking activities) have been established by local municipal offices, commercial matchmaking agencies, and machi-kon (township companionship activities which encourage meeting of the sexes, in groups). It is because the dual structural nature of Japanese society and culture sustains the traditional family culture in the minds of even the young people in Japan today. However, it would be premature to say that the pattern of the partnership formation in Japan has shifted to the second demographic transition with nonmarital cohabitation. Increasing prevalence of de facto partnerships may prompt us to say that the coming of the second demographic change in Japan is in order. It could be due to factors within Japanese society and culture. Births to unmarried mothers in Japan today are extremely low in comparison to other industrial nations. Single mothers are not yet an accepted social norm in Japan. Extremely high rates for lifetime bachelors and bachelorettes today are a major reason for fertility decline. Furthermore, many Japanese men and women remain single their entire lives (1920, about 2 % for both men and women 2010, 20 % for men and 11 % for women). Recently, young Japanese have had difficulty finding ideal marriage partners hence, there emerged a nationwide phenomenon of the delayed marriage. During the early stage of Japanese modernization, miai was the predominant pattern, but that has switched, with ren-ai now the dominant pattern. In the arranged marriage, the go-between ( nakoudo) conducted formal interviews, providing the young with opportunities to meet possible partners. Then, two types of mate selection emerged: the arranged ( miai) and the romantic marriage ( ren-ai). It was only after the Meiji era that Japanese marriage changed to the Yoriai pattern based on the mutual consent of the marriage partners.

The marriage pattern in Japan developed from group/horde marriages in primitive times to the tsumadoi-kon (the groom commuted to the bride’s residence), to the muko-in (the groom lived with the bride family) during the aristocracy, and to the yome-in (women marrying into men’s families) under the Bushi ruling.

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