Abstract
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. It was only after the Meiji era that Japanese marriage changed to the Yoriai pattern based on the mutual consent of the marriage partners.
Then, two types of mate selection emerged: the arranged (miai) and the romantic marriage (ren-ai). In the arranged marriage, the go-between (nakoudo) conducted formal interviews, providing the young with opportunities to meet possible partners. During the early stage of Japanese modernization, miai was the predominant pattern, but that has switched, with ren-ai now the dominant pattern.
Recently, young Japanese have had difficulty finding ideal marriage partners; hence, there emerged a nationwide phenomenon of the delayed marriage. 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). Extremely high rates for lifetime bachelors and bachelorettes today are a major reason for fertility decline. Single mothers are not yet an accepted social norm in Japan. Births to unmarried mothers in Japan today are extremely low in comparison to other industrial nations. It could be due to factors within Japanese society and culture.
Increasing prevalence of de facto partnerships may prompt us to say that the coming of the second demographic change in Japan is in order. 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. 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. Upon giving births to their first babies, cohabiting couples are most likely to resolve their cohabiting unions by the traditional marriage.
Attempting 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). Furthermore, the current government will extend monetary support to marriage services organized by municipal offices effective in the 2014 fiscal year.
Marriage is an ongoing process at which two individuals must work. There are no perfect relationships. A marriage is the product of mutual understanding and the efforts of two persons. Single people wishing to get married should try to find a better half, rather than the best, through positive participations in kon-katsu activities.
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Notes
- 1.
Spouses’ ages at marriage were recorded in the following manner: through the year 1943, they were recorded at the time of registration, while statistics between 1947 and 1967 were based on the time when the wedding were held, and those from 1968 onward are based on the time of the wedding or the initiation of coresidence. No marriage license is required in Japan. A marriage becomes valid only after it is officially registered in the family record, the koseki, and it need not be registered for some years (IPSSR 2014, notes for the Table 6.12).
- 2.
Rates (%) for live births to unmarried mothers of major industrial nations in 2008 were as follows: Sweden, 54.7; France, 52.6; Denmark, 46.2; the United Kingdom, 43.7; the Netherlands, 41.2; the United States, 40.6; Iceland, 32.7; Germany, 32.1; Spain, 31.7; Canada, 27.3; Italy, 17.7; Hong Kong, 5.6; and Japan, 2.1 (OECD 2014, Chapter 3: General Context Indicators).
- 3.
The US national average in 2012 was 40.7, for whites 35.7, African Americans 71.8, Native Americans 65.8, Hispanics 52.6, and Asians or Pacific Islanders 16.9. When we look at statistics by state in 2012, there exist significant regional variations with Utah the lowest at 18.7. States with high rates were Mississippi, 54.7; Louisiana, 53.2; and New Mexico, 52.1 (US Census Bureau 2012, Tables 86 and 89) (CDC 2013, Table I.1).
- 4.
However, the recent ruling by the Japanese Supreme Court on September 4, 2013, regarding an illegitimate child’s portion of an inheritance is discriminatory and is expected to prompt the Diet to overhaul the Civil Law in the near future (Tamura 2013). In fact, the law to alleviate this inheritance discrimination against an illegitimate child passed the Diet on December 4 and enacted effective December 11, 2013.
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Kumagai, F. (2015). History of Courtship and Marriage in Japan. In: Family Issues on Marriage, Divorce, and Older Adults in Japan. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-185-5_3
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