Marriage in Japan is a legal and social institution in a household center. Couples are legally married after they make a status change on their family registration sheets, without needing a ceremony. Most weddings are held either according to the Shinto tradition or in the chapel according to the tradition of Christian marriage.
Traditionally, marriages are categorized into two types according to the method of finding a spouse - omiai , which means regulated or produced from the prescribed introduction, and ren'ai , where the husband and wives meet and decide to marry themselves - though the difference has become less meaningful during the postwar decade because the ideas of Western love change Japanese perceptions of marriage.
Video Marriage in Japan
Histori
The institution of marriage in Japan has changed radically over the last millennium. Indigenous practices first adapted to Confucian Chinese during the Middle Ages, and then Western concepts of individualism, gender equality, romantic love, and nuclear families during the modern era. Exclusive excise to a small aristocracy gained mass popularity as the population became increasingly urbanized.
Heian Period (794-1185)
The Heian period in Japanese history marks the culmination of his classical era, when the vast imperial palace established himself and his culture in Heian-ky? (Modern Kyoto). The Heian community is organized by a complex ranking system, and the purpose of marriage is to produce children who will inherit the highest possible rank of the best placed lineage. It's not ceremonial or permanent.
Aristocrats exchange letters and poems for several months or years before arranging to meet after dark. If a man sees the same woman for a period of three nights, they are considered married, and the wife's parents hold a banquet for the couple. Most of the lower class members engage in permanent marriage with one partner, and the husband arranges to bring their wives to their own homes, to ensure the legitimacy of their offspring.
High-ranking noblemen sometimes have many wives or concubines. Aristocratic wives can remain in their father's house, and the husband will recognize the father by formal gift giving. Heian dating forms, as well as intrigue tricks of romance, are well represented in the period literature, notably The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, The Sarashina Diary, The Pillow Book i>, and The Tale of Genji .
Edo Period (1600-1868)
In pre-modern Japan, marriage can not be separated from ie (? , "family" or "household") , the basic unit of society with a collective continuity independent of the life of any individual. Household members are expected to subdue all their own interests to those of ie , respecting the ideal of devotional piety and the social hierarchy that borrows much from Confucianism. The choice to stay single is the biggest crime a man can take, according to Baron Hozumi.
The marriage is governed by the head of the household, who represents her openly and legally accountable to her members, and any preference by one principal in marriage arrangements is considered inappropriate. Property is considered to belong to ie not to individuals, and inheritance is strictly agnatic primogeniture. A woman (?) Marries a household (?) From her husband, then the logogram for yome (? , "wife") and yomeiri ( ??? , "marriage," lit. "wife entered") .
In the absence of boys, some households will adopt male heirs (span lang = "ja"> ?? , or y? Shi) to defend the dynasty, a continued practice in Japanese companies. Almost all adoptions are adult men. Marriage is restricted to households with the same social standing (??), which makes selection a very important and exhausting process. Although Confucian ethics encourage people to marry outside their own group, limiting search to local communities remains the easiest way to ensure respectable matches. About one in five pre-modern Japanese marriages took place among already-related households.
Remote Communities such as Burakumin can not marry outside their caste, and marriage discrimination continues even after the declaration of 1871 abolished the caste system, until the 20th century. Marriages between Japanese and non-Japanese were not officially permitted until March 14, 1873, the date now celebrated as the White Day. Marriage with strangers requires the Japanese to give up their social standing.
The purpose of marriage in the medieval and the Edo period was to form an inter-family alliance, to free the family from its dependents, to perpetuate the family line, and, especially for the lower classes, to add new members to the family labor force. The seventeenth century treatise Onna Daigaku ("Larger Learning for Women") instructed wives to honor their parents-in-law before their own parents, and to be "polite, humble, and peaceful" against their husbands.
Husbands are also encouraged to place the needs of their parents and children before their wives. A British observer commented, "If you love your wife, you damage your mother's servant." The tension between a housewife and her mother-in-law has been at the core of Japanese dramas ever since.
Romantic love ( ?? , aij? ) play a small part in a medieval wedding, because the emotional attachment is considered inconsistent with devoted piety. A saying goes, "Those who are united in passion keep crying." For men, sexual satisfaction is seen as separate from a husband and wife relationship with one's wife, where the goal is procreation. The genre is called Ukiyo-e ( ??? , lit. "floating world pictures") opulence and hedonism celebrated era , usually with beautiful portrayal of prostitutes and geisha from the pleasure district. Smuggling and prostitution are common, general, relatively respectable, until social upheaval The Meiji Restoration terminates feudal society in Japan.
Restoration and modernization of the Meiji (1868-1912)
During the Meiji period, the customs of the upper classes and samurai of the arranged marriage were steadily replacing the union of choice and of shared attraction enjoyed by the rural masses. Rapid urbanization and industrialization bring more populations to the cities, ending the isolation of rural life. Public education became almost universally between 1872 and early 1900s, and the school emphasized the traditional concept of devotional piety, first towards nation, second against household, and last of all against one's personal interests. Marriage under the Meiji Civil Code requires permission from the head of household (Article 750) and parents for men under 30 years and women under 25 (Article 772).
In matchmaking, most couples meet beforehand in official introductions called omiai ( ???? , lit. "look at each other" ) , though some will meet for the first time at the wedding ceremony. A visitor to Japan describes omiai as "a meeting where lovers (if people unknown to one another may be so styled) are allowed to see, sometimes even to talk to each other, and thus estimate the rewards of each. "However, their objections carry a little weight. The meeting was originally a widespread samurai custom at the beginning of the 20th century, when ordinary people began arranging marriages for their children through intermediaries ( , , nak? do ) or matchmaker. The word omiai is still used to distinguish matchmaking, even when there is no official meeting, from ren'ai (?? , "love match") .
Dating remained rare in Japan during this period. Boys and girls are separated at school, in theaters, and at social gatherings. Colleagues who embark on a romantic relationship can be dismissed, and as long as the couples of World War II travel can be arrested. Parents sometimes make arrangements to legitimize "love matches", but many others produce separation and sometimes commit suicide. Love is considered unimportant to marry. A proposal by Baron Hozumi, who had studied abroad, that his lack of love was used as a reason for divorce failed to escape during the debate on the Meiji Civil Code of 1898. A writer observed in 1930, "According to traditional moral notions, it is considered a sign of mental and moral weakness to 'fall in love.' "
Marriage, like other social institutions during this period, emphasized the low level of female subordinates to men. Women learn that as daughters they must obey their father, as their husbands' wives, as widows of their sons. The sanctity in marriage is expected for women, and the law is not revoked until 1908 permits a husband to kill his wife and his lover if he finds them in an act of adultery. Prostitution of women survives from periodic interruptions of puritan ideals for less strict Japanese sexuality.
Divorce law becomes more the same over time. During the Edo period, a husband can divorce his wife by writing a letter about his intention to do so, but the only way out of the wife is to flee to the monastery. The laws of the early Meiji period established several grounds in which a man could divorce: infertility, adultery, disobedience to in-laws, insanity, theft, jealousy, and illness. A wife, accompanied by close male relatives, may appeal a divorce if she has been abandoned or imprisoned by her husband, or if she is extravagant or mentally ill. The 1898 Civil Code establishes the principle of collective agreement, although women's consent may still be forced until the early twentieth century, as women gradually gain access to education and financial independence. The struggle for the right of divorce marks the beginning of Japanese feminism.
The post-war period (1945-present)
Signed after the surrender and occupation of Japan by the Allied forces, Article 24 of the 1947 Constitution redefined marriage on the basis of equality and choice: "Marriage shall only be based on mutual consent of both sexes and shall be preserved through cooperation with equal rights of husband and wife as in accordance with the choice of spouse, property, inheritance, domicile choice, divorce and other matters relating to marriage and family, all laws should be enforced from the point of view of the individual's dignity and the essential equality of the sex. "
The Constitution removes the foundations of the system and and the patriarchal authority at its core. Each nuclear family maintains, and still maintains, a separate family registration sheet, which begins at a marriage with the surname of a husband or wife, but the head of every household no longer has a special legal prerogative of its dependents. All legitimate children, male or female, acquire the same right to inherit, end the succession of the first generation and obsession with the lineage. Women receive the right to vote and the right to seek divorce on the basis of adultery. Meiji's emphasis on Confucian values ​​and national mythology disappears from education. The conventional model is is replaced by a new convention, kazoku ( ?? , family) and < i> kakukazoku ( ??? , nuclear family) , as the basic unit of society.
New demographic trends are emerging, including younger marriage age and smaller age differences between men and women, the birth of two consecutive children, several children born out of wedlock, and low divorce rates. Lifetime work became the norm for Japanese men, especially during the post-war 1950s, 60s, and 70s economic boom. Middle-class ideology forms a gendered family pattern with a separate social sphere: a paid husband to provide a family income, a housewife to manage a home and nurture children, and a commitment by children to education. Better health and nutrition means a quicker extension of life expectancy, and government policies have encouraged people to form sansedai kazoku ( ????? , "family of three generations") to manage aging society quickly.
Omiai marriage, arranged by a parent or a matchmaker, remains the norm soon after the war, although the following decades follow a steady increase in the number of love matches. "The difference between the two has been blurred: parents almost always consult young people before" arranging "marriages, and many young people ask employers or teachers to serve as matchmakers for their" love match ". Today only one in 20 married couples describes their formation as arranged, and multiple dating has become the norm even for relationships beginning with omiai . Three out of five couples meet at work or through friends or siblings.
The term "marriage" ( kekkon katsudo , or konkatsu ), has become popular since 2007. It reflects a professional class of matchmaking services that organizes meetings between potential partners, usually through social events, and often include resume exchanges.
Maps Marriage in Japan
Demographics
According to the 2010 census, 58.9% of adult Japanese married, 13.9% women and 3.1% of men were widows, and 5.9% of women and 3.8% were divorced. The number of annual weddings has declined since the early 1970s, while divorce shows a general trend.
Marriage and fertility
The decline of marriage in Japan, as fewer people get married and do it later on, is a widely quoted explanation for falling birth rates. Although total fertility rates have declined since the 1970s (to 1.43 in 2013), birth statistics for married women remain fairly constant (about 2.1) and most married couples have two or more children. Economic factors, such as the cost of child rearing, work-family conflicts, and insufficient housing, are the most common reasons for young mothers (under 34 years old) having fewer children than is desirable.
The number of unmarried or unmarried couples has increased since 2002 (to 23.3 percent in 2010) even as the desire for larger families remains the same. Only 2% of births occur outside of marriage, compared with 30-60% of births in Europe and North America. This is because of social taboos, legal pressure, and financial barriers.
Half of Japanese single mothers live below the poverty line, among the highest for OECD countries. In addition, about 3.5 million Japanese children, one in six children under the age of 18, are from households classified as experiencing "relative poverty" by the OECD.
Fewer marriages
Nearly 90% of unmarried Japanese intend to marry, but the percentage of people who do not continue to increase. Between 1990 and 2010, the percentage of 50-year-olds who had never been married roughly quadrupled for men to 20.1% and doubled for women to 10.6%. The Ministry of Welfare predicts these figures will increase to 29% men and 19.2% of women by 2035. The governmental population agency estimates in 2014 that women in their early 20s have a one-in-four chance of never getting married , and two fifty opportunities for no children.
Recent media coverage has disfigured surveys from the Japan Family Planning Association and Cabinet Office that show a declining interest in courtship and intercourse among young people, especially among men. However, changes in sexuality and fertility are more likely to result from decline in family formation rather than cause. Since the usual dating goal in Japan is marriage, the reluctance to marry is often translated unwillingness to engage in a more relaxed relationship.
The majority of Japanese remain committed to the family's traditional ideas, with a husband who provides financial support, a wife who works at home, and two children. Labor practices, such as long working hours, health insurance, and the national pension system, are based on traditional breadwinner models. As a result, Japan largely maintains a gender-based division of labor with one of the largest gender payment disparities in developed countries, even as other countries began to move toward more equitable settings in the 1970s.
However, economic stagnation, anemic wage growth, and job insecurity have made it increasingly difficult for young Japanese couples to secure the income needed to create conventional families, even if they want to do so. Japan was once known for the job of a lifetime, but after the asset price bubble erupted and the Asian financial crisis of 1997 routine jobs for unmarried men aged 25-34 fell from 78% in 1982 to 55% in 2010 as companies began hiring more people for a temporary or part-time contract. These non-regular employees earn about 53% less than the usual on a comparable monthly basis, according to the Ministry of Labor, and as primary recipients are seven times more likely to fall below the poverty line. Men in this group were more than twice reluctant to consider marriage, and in their 30s were about 40% less likely to get married than those with steady jobs.
According to sociologist Masahiro Yamada, the failure of the convention to adapt to the economic and social realities of Japanese society has led to a "gap in family formation" between those who succeeded in creating conventional families and those who remain single and without children.
Marriage later
The average age at first marriage in Japan has increased steadily from the mid-20th century to about 31 for men and 29 for women by 2013, including the highest in Asia. Women postpone marriage for various reasons, including high personal and financial expectations, increasing the independence provided by education and employment, and the difficulty of balancing work and family. Masahiro Yamada coined the term single parasite ( ????????? , parasaito shinguru ) for unmarried adults in their late 20s and 30s who live with their parents, although it usually refers to women. Men who are not aggressively pursuing marriage are known as herbivore men ???? , s? Shoku danshi ) .
International marriage
Of the 660,613 registered marriages in 2013, 21,488 (or about 1 in 30) are between Japanese and foreign nationals, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The number of international unions increased rapidly in the 1980s and 90s, peaking in 2006 at 44,701 (about 1 in 16), and has declined since then. The amendment of the Immigration Control Act of 2005, which makes it more difficult for Filipino citizens to work in Japan, is one of the causes of the decline. Filipino women saw the largest decline, from 12,150 in 2006 to 3,118 or 20.1% of foreign brides by 2013. Many Filipino women come to Japan as entertainers, and some have become victims of domestic violence.
The nationality of foreign couples differs by sex, and Japanese women are more likely to marry partners from outside East Asia and Southeast Asia than Japanese men. Of the 15,442 non-Japanese brides in 2013, most came from China (40.4%), followed by the Philippines (20.1%), South Korea (17.7%) and Thailand (6.3%). The 6,046 men were from Korea (27.9%), United States (19.1%), China (11.8%), and Brazil (4.7%). Many Chinese and Korean (Zainichi) included in these statistics have been living in Japan for generations without becoming naturalized citizens.
Of the 1 million children born in Japan in 2013, 2.2% have one or more non-Japanese parents. Increases in international households sometimes cause conflicts over custody. Japanese biracial children are often called h? Fu ( ??? ) , even though this term has dissatisfaction.
Domestic violence
According to a survey summary by the Gender Equality Bureau of Japan in 2006, 33.2% of wives and 17.4% of husbands have experienced either threats, physical violence, or rape, more than 10% of women repeatedly. This violence almost always happens after marriage. Violence through dating relations has also been reported by 13.5% of women and 5.2% of men.
marriage law
Marriage is legally recognized after the couple has successfully submitted the required documents to the town hall registrar to change their status at koseki ( ?? ) family registration sheet. No ceremonies are required under Japanese law. The family registration sheet serves as a birth certificate, proof of citizenship, marriage certificate, and death certificate. A register is stored for each nuclear family, under the name of the household head ( ??? , hittousya ) , with spouse and unmarried children who are registered as dependents.
Married couples must apply for a marriage registration form ( ??? , kond todoke ) to create a new registration sheet ( ??? , shinkoseki ) with a common family name. Since 1947, couples were allowed to vote for one of the surnames of a husband or wife, consistent with the prohibition of a separate family name first enacted in 1898. Married couples are estimated to choose a male family name of 95% of the time, although some women continue to use the name their girls informally. The ban has endured several legal challenges on the basis of gender inequality, most recently by 2015. When marriage is used to adopt male heirs, husbands take the surnames of their wives.
International marriages are subject to separate rules in Japan. Foreigners in Japan do not have their own family registration sheets, and therefore those who marry a Japanese citizen are listed on the family sheet. Foreign partners in Japan are eligible for long-term dependent visas.
Children born out of wedlock are recorded as unlawful in their mother's family list, though they may be legitimized by later father's confession. Unauthorized children are eligible for a legitimate legacy inheritance until the court decision in 2013.
Wedding ceremonies
An overview of Japanese religious syncretism says: "Born Shinto, married to Christian, dead Buddha." But in practice, elements of the three great traditions tend to be practiced side by side. Japanese weddings usually begin with Shinto ceremonies or Christian styles for family members and close friends before a dinner party and a party in the restaurant or hotel hall. There the extended family and friends of the couple made a speech and offered a gosh? Gi ( ??? , "prize money") in a special envelope. Close relatives pay about twice as much as friends.
Japanese Shinto Ceremony
The traditional Shinto ceremony ( ??? , 'shinzen shiki') , which includes about one in six Japanese weddings, is held in the main building of a temple. A minister performs a purification ritual for the couple, then announces their marriage with us (? , "god" or "spirit") from the temple and ask for their blessing. The bride and groom take three sips each of three cups of sake, a ritual called sansankudo ( ???? ) .
The Japanese bride, sometimes painted white as a sign of purity before the gods, wore a kimono that either shiromuku ( ??? , "white white dress ") , iro uchikake ( ??? ," colorful outside robe ") , or kurobiki furisode ( ????? ) , black and patterned kimono ever worn at a noble wedding during the Edo period (1603-1868), with both open white watab? shi ( ??? ) or tsunokakushi ( ??? ) . Prospective boys wear black jackets haori ( ?? ) and loose, like a skirt hakama (? ) with a vertical line.
Christian chapel ceremony
The Christian wedding ceremony since the mid-1990s replaced the Shinto rite and continues to be Japan's preferred wedding ceremony. The Christian wedding ceremony in the last thirty years has moved from a distraction to the mainstream of Japanese society. The popularity of Christian wedding ceremonies represents a new wide acceptance, commercialization, and popularity of religious ceremonies. The postwar history of Christian marriage ceremonies is best understood in the efforts made by traditional Christian churches and the bridal industry to meet the religious demands and demands of most "nonreligious" Japanese constituencies (mush 'Ky?).
Statistically speaking, most of the contemporary Japanese identity as nonreligious. However, this self-identification is far from being a wholesale denial of religion, and is often used to reject and affirm religious behavior and identity. Typically, non-religious attitudes reject religious dispositions as perverted, unhealthy or alien while at the same time affirming the importance of religion.
Nonreligious individuals tend to rely on religious professionals and volunteer to trust specific acts of prayer and ritual to religious authorities when desired and appropriate. Along with various Buddhist and Shinto rites, Christian wedding ceremonies are now one of those occasions where unreligious Japanese depend on religious professionals. The nonreligious stance is responsible for the significant changes in Japanese Christianity and the bridal industry and the successful response of Christian churches and the bridal industry to consumer demand has caused an explosion in Christian wedding ceremonies.
The story of contemporary Japanese Christianity is one of the successes and failures of dealing with the extraordinary "non-religious". The story of failure illustrates the inability of Christian churches to get converted Japanese people; both the transplants and the Japanese domestic churches face aging membership and the increasing number of baptisms. In 2006, Christians accounted for 1.2 percent of the Japanese population. Similarly, Christian religious organizations accounted for only 2.3 percent of Japan's 182,468 juridical religious people. This data, along with an aging church population, leads researchers to show that marginal Christian populations are heading for a rapid decline.
However, these statistics about Christian affiliation do not take into account the unprecedented popularity of Christian ceremonies or discuss how nonreligious has transformed Japanese Christianity. The increasing popularity of Christian marriage dates from two events in the 1980s. The first is Lady Diana Spencer's marriage to Prince Charles, and the second - among the Japanese - is a Japanese idol wedding Momoe Yamaguchi. In the mid-1990s, Christian marriage surpassed Shinto marriage and, since 1999, continues to be the preferred wedding ceremony among sixty to seventy percent of the Tokyo couples with similar popularity trends across the country. Christian wedding ceremonies have attracted and retained the interest of the majority of Japanese - who are mostly non-religious. In short, the majority of Japanese people are not just "Born Shinto, Die Buddha," but they are also "Nonreligious Identity, Wed Christian."
Nonreligiousness has transformed traditional Japanese Christian churches and bridal industries. Although often regarded as a bridal industry activity, churches and Christian personnel are very important in the awakening of Christian marriage and their popularity. On March 1, 1975, the Vatican gave special permission to the Japanese Catholic Church to conduct a wedding ceremony for non-affiliated, non-Christian couples. The unreligious Japanese have access to this Catholic sacrament in a manner equivalent to baptized church members. These forms of access were instrumental in popularizing Christian marriage in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Catholic Church used in "shining sakura" wedding ceremonies (Seiki no kekkon) Kanda Masaki and Matsuda Seiko "became the setting of the 1991 Japanese television series Itsu ka, sarejio ky? Kai de and one of the most popular places in the early years of marriage Christian.
In addition to new policies and approaches, the non-religious request for Christian marriage has spawned new religious institutions and strong partnerships between commercial and religious groups - sometimes blurring the line between the two. One successful example of a religious and commercial partnership is the Christian Bride Mission (kirisutoky? Buraidaru senky? Dan), founded in 1980 and incorporated as a religious juridist in 1986. From this humble beginning, this non-denominational Evangelical Protestant Church-- the first Christian organization dedicated exclusively to marriage production - grew into a national proportion. Today, the Christian Bridal Mission has more than a thousand ministers - making it one of the largest Christian organizations in Japan.
When the majority of active people are nonreligious, the mechanisms for building convincing references to Christianity take on sensual characters. Visual cues - the race of ministers, architectural styles, musical talents, etc.-- have become a major way not only to generate connections to the Christian tradition but to verify that connections do exist. The bridal industry relies on sensory experience in almost every way with the result that places of commercial institutions are now playing an important role in the continued success and continued popularity of Christian marriage as a new Protestant church.
Although Japan has unprecedented access to the Catholic Church, the majority of marriages in Japan follow the Protestant liturgy. Thus the ceremony includes elements typical of traditional Protestant marriages including hymns, prayers, prayers, reading bible, exchange of rings, wedding kisses, and oaths before God. It is typical for the bride to enter with her father and then "given" to her husband - an exchange that usually involves bending and shaking hands. In recent years, the habit of lowering the veil has also become popular. During the hijab, lowering the bride's mother lowers the veil for her daughter before she continues her "virgin walk" with her father towards her husband. In the case of a non-Japanese marriage minister, the ceremony is usually performed in a mixture of Japanese and western languages ​​(usually, English).
Non-religious or civil ceremony
Non-religious or civil ceremonies often take place in the banquet hall, before or during the reception party, with an officiating Master of Ceremony and guests sitting around the table. Although these ceremonies often adopt Western elements, especially wedding dresses for brides and tuxedos for the groom, they release religious connotations.
Some younger couples choose to leave the formality entirely for a "no host party" party, which emphasizes celebration rather than ceremony. The guests mainly consist of the couple's friends, who pay the attendance fee.
See also
- Japanese Aging
- Confucian view of marriage
- Japanese Family
- Family law in Japan
- same-sex marriage in Japan
- Shinto Wedding
- Women in Japan
Jobs Cited
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments