Anxiety for marriage among Japanese youth

This paper aimed to examine how the expectance for the romantic love arouses the anxiety of young people for the marriage in Japan; drawn on our collective survey conducted by 26 Japanese universities in 2011. An uneasy atmosphere veiled in Japanese society because of depopulation beginning in 2005 although the economic power and the security still kept maintained. The mean age at first marriage is prolonged and the birth rate goes down under 1.3 and.

The concept “individualization of the family” has been discussed in Japanese sociology since the 1980’s. Especially increase in possible choices of family is one of the most effective factors for the depopulation. Our central questions are to why Japanese young people have a negative behavior in making family and to what are factors of their behaviors.

In discussing romance and relationships with the opposite sex, Japan has a short history of several decades of male-female relationships in the Western mold. Until 1967 arranged marriages were more popular than romance or love marriages. Japanese traditional marriage was usually forged for economic or social class reasons; it was not formed for the interests of the individuals but strategically, for the sake of the primary social group of the ie (stem family system).

The love marriage has been popular in Japan since the 1970’s. The ratio of love marriage attained over 90%. Japanese young people are obliged to look for their partner themselves. It is a serious pressure for them to get their lives. Therefore young people have a tendency to give up their romantic relationship.