Marriage, Divorce, and Children

Marriage, Divorce, and Children in Japan
1M070244-3 Kumazawa Nozomi

In old Japan, a child was the most important factor when people get married. People in old Japanese society thought highly of their “family” (or “oie” in Japanese), such as “Toyotomike” or “Tokugawake”, and to have their family continue to exist was of very valuable. Therefore, the wife who could not become pregnant regarded as bad wife and a husband could divorce himself from his wife one-sidedly. In our time, the matter of children is not so important for husbands and wives than that was in past period because their main reason to choose their partner is depend on whether they spend their lives with the partner or not, not on advantageous for the family. However, a child is still the reason for their marriages in the case of “dekikon”. “Dekikon” is the abbreviation of “dekichattakekkon” ,the case where a woman gets pregnant by accident and they have to marry before the baby is born. The rate of “dekikon” is increasing nowadays, because young people come to less serious about having sex. I think the Japanese increasing rate of divorce is attributed to increasing “dekikon” somehow. As far as marriage is concerned, Japanese people are very cautious: which has maintain the Japanese low divorcing late. However, in the case of “dekikon” people are rushed to get married, sometime marry on impulse. So, I think the young in Japanese should be more serious about these problems. And I wonder what it is like in America!

Sometime a woman is forced to quit their jobs in thanks to getting pregnant. However, many women in Japan want to continue their jobs, even though they also want to have a child someday. Therefore, Japanese company should set a better system for that kinds of women.