How Are Attitudes and Behaviours of Japanese Changing? (Part 3)

Osaka – Saturday, April 3, 2010

In part 3, answer to the question about divorce that went on air in a recent TV programme was introduced, and first discussion on marriage of Japanese people was developed throughout the article. This was because it is impossible to understand those of divorce without understanding how attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people on marriage,.

In this article, how attitudes and behaviours or Japanese people on divorce is discussed.

1. Recap: What was the question asked to Japanese people about divorce and what was their answer?

The question was designed to find out how many of them are divorced, and surprising 34% answered that they are divorced. This result was shocking to MCs and guests of the TV programme as well as the author because Japanese people used to be well known for low divorce rate.

2. How attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people on divorce have been changing?

The shocking survey result attributes to change in attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people on divorce. Such change is in line with the change in how attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people regarding marriage have been changing.

1) Divorce used to be rare and divorce rate used to be extremely low.

Divorce rate was extremely low as 3% or below and people of single parents were mostly because one of their parents died. This was because once married, couples were expected to remain together for the rest of their lives, and divorce was the last options to take. There were a few people who finally decided or were obligated to get divorced otherwise their family would be falling apart anyway.

Typical examples of reasons for getting divorced include domestic violence to the extent that if they don’t get separated the victim could be badly hurt or even get killed, and husband not giving family budget to his wife so that she and the children cannot live. In old times, many people live with parents and the new young wife ill-treated from mother-in-law and old women was not unusual. Her husband seldom took care of her. This is in many cases another reason for divorce today but it was rarely in the old days.

2) Divorce rate started to rise in line with westernization in people’s life style.

Attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people on divorce started to change when their lifestyle started to westernize and nuclear family became common, and their attitudes and behaviour on marriage and divorce started to change as well. And, according to Voice or America (October 25, 2006), Japan’s divorce rate has been soaring in recent years, with 70% of the splits initiated by unhappy wives. The survey result of the divorce rate being 34% was shocking but the author understands that it is the reality today because she does know a few people around her (friends, colleagues at work etc.) who are divorced.

3) What are the possible reasons of divorce?

It is case by case, and timing of divorce seems to have some relationship with reason of divorce.

(1) Extremely early divorce

The earliest timing of divorce is “narita-rikon”. This word was coined a few decades ago, which is literally “divorce at Narita International Airport”. This means a young couple gets divorced when they come back from their honeymoon, which is often abroad meaning they fly from and return to an International airport such as Narita. Often the reason for the divorce is “he/she was not as I’d expected before marriage”.

Unlike the old days, it is not unusual that engagement breaks up before marriage, and in the last 5 years of less, a few happens even on the wedding day, when many guests are invited to the ceremony and party. There has been a TV programme of such a couple, although it is a fiction (but usually reflects social trend). This may be one factor that helped make people think getting separated (this is before marriage so not divorce) is not a big issue as it used to be. Reasons for many of such split are complex.

(2) Divorce upon retirement

Another interesting trend reflecting the society trend is “jukunen-rikon” that started to emerge and spread from around 20 years ago. “Juk,unen-rikon” is literally “divorce of a matured couple”, meaning couples getting divorced when the husband retires from work, usually at the age of 60. This kind of divorce is initiated, who has been living up with it until then. She would decide to initiate the divorce upon her husband’s retirement because their children have usually become independent and she can have some share of the husband’s retirement allowance so she should be able to re-start her life. Such couples often appear in fiction TV programmes.

Such wives had been unhappy for a many years partly because they do not have support from their husbands. Possible reason for this is that they do not have support from their husbands who are often described as workaholic and do not spend time with their family before retirement. Also, as some experts point out, men have been only trained to achieve in the workplace and be loyal to the company, so they do not know how to communicate. For this reason, they lack in experience in making relationships and communicating with others including their family, and normally do not talk about their families. It is from the irony of how such wives really view of their husband that a phrase literally “it’s good if your husband is well/healthy but not at home” was created and used in a TV commercial about 20 years ago.

Having said that, many matured couples do stay together after the husband’s retirement, as the wish of “live until the couple gets so old as the hair gets white”, symbolized by a pair of dolls, (couple of male and female),l often given as present to the new married couple. And more couples after retirement go out together for vacation, shopping and so forth compared to those of old times, whether it is simply because the husband is lonely to be at home, or couples who remain together are more in good terms than the couples of the old days and going out together is their style.

(3) Divorce in other timing

The reasons for couples getting divorces in other times of their married years are case by case. Possible reasons include the ones already mentioned as possible reasons of rare divorces in the old times, and flirting, which is the case of many fiction TV programmes.

3. What are the possible reasons for change in attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people on divorce?

Most reasons are linked with and/or the same as change in their attitudes and behaviours on marriage.

1) Divorce simply used to be unacceptable in the Japanese society but started to be acceptable.

Divorce was simply not acceptable to the Japanese society in old times, but with diversification of marriage etc. it started to be acceptable. Indeed, children with single parent were often ill-treated in the society (school etc.) just after the World War II but now the situation has changed/improved. Also, divorce used to be a negative factor for many businessmen at work such as getting promoted, but it no longer a negative factor. And today, in addition to TV starts, there are some famous and successful people in business and political world who are divorced, including former Prime Minister Mr. Junichi Koizumi.

Whether change in people’s attitudes and behaviours thus the society started to accept divorce was first or whether it was because more people started to get divorce was first, it is a question; however, it is a fact that the society now accepts divorce today. It is quite possible that news of TV stars getting married (including sudden marriage) and divorce made Japanese people to view marriage and divorce with more flexibility, regarding divorce as an acceptable option although it is better to be avoided. Then it would change their behaviour about divorce by taking action.

2) More women becoming financially independent facilitated divorce.

With less full-time house wives, women have become more financially independent, and this is another reason for increase in divorce rate. Many women in older generation used to live up with unhappiness and refrained from getting divorced even though they were unhappy simply because they were full-time house wives and they would not be able to make a living if they should get divorced, especially feeding her children (wives usually looked after their children after divorce). But with more working mothers (although less than western countries), hurdle for women to get divorced have decreased.


After all, the overall trend of change in attitude and behaviour of Japanese people on divorce is “westernization”, similarly to life plan and marriage.

How Are Attitudes and Behaviours of Japanese Changing? (Part 2)

Osaka – Monday, March 27, 2010

In part 1, answer to question about saving that went on air in a recent TV programme in Japan was introduced, from which discussion on saving and income of Japanese people was developed throughout the article.

In this article, answers to question about divorce that went on air in the same TV programme is introduced, from which discussion on marriage then divorce of Japanese people is to be developed.

1. What was the question asked to Japanese people about divorce and what was their answer?

The questions asked was to find out how many of them are divorced, and surprising 34% answered that they are. This result was extremely shocking to MCs and guests of the TV programme as well as the author because Japanese people are well known for low divorce rate.

2. How attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people regarding marriage have been changing?

First of all, the author would like to discuss how attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people regarding marriage have been changing in this article before discussing those of divorce.

1) There used to be a stereotype concept of marriage.

With stereotype concept of how people lead their lives, there used to be a stereotype concept of marriage in Japan. Majority of Japanese people used to get married in twenties, then males devoted 100% to work until retirement and females became full-time housewives to look after the family. It was quite natural for a couple to have children quite soon after their marriage. They would plan to buy a house (often callen “my-home”), which is a dream and a lifelong task in Japan with extremely expensive real estates. With such a stereotype life plan, it is quite natural that there used to be a stereotype concept of marriage in Japan.

2) Nowadays Japanese people have tendency to marry later than so many decades ago, and marriage is diversifying.

About 40 years ago average age of people getting married was 27 for males and 24 for females, but most people tend to marry later than that today. People used to be very uneasy unless they get married before reaching the age of 30 but today single person in 30s is quite common. Only a decade or so ago, females remaining single in 30s and over used to be called “makeinu” meaning “loser” but such a phrase is now rarely used.

It is interesting to note that there are some extremely young couples (people getting married very young) yet there are some elder couples and couples of huge age gap as well. Such couples have appeared in TV programmes and the author knows in person a few such people.

A few years ago there was a popular TV programme about a romance of a 40 year old female and young male in 20s, and indeed although such a couple is minority there are such couples today. From the TV programme, “ara－for“, abbreviation of “around 40” became a popular phrase then.

Also, it was explicitly mentioned in a recent TV programme that couples of male in 40s and female in later 20s are emerging, although in many cases parents (especially father) of the bride are against and disapprove. According to the TV programme, this trend is because males in 30s, who are usually considered of good age balance with females in late 20s, are reactive (often called “soushokukei” literally “herbivory type”) and do not draw interest of females, whereas males in 40s draw interest of females because they are not reactive, can entertain females, and so forth. Other possible reason not mentioned in the TV programme is that some recent males in 40s are young externally (in appearance) and internally (keeping up with trends etc.). The fact that a big age gap couples (male or female much older) of TV starts are often introduced and this also might be influencing attitudes and behaviours of new generation Japanese people about age gap couple, making them think age gap is not a big problem anymore.

3. Why people tend to marry later in life today?

There are some factors for this including financial and social.

People who are financially independent are quite comfortable being single and rich. This is prominent for those living with parents (i.e. no need to worry about housing), for females in particular, who can use all their income for their personal expenditure. Hence, there is a phrase “dokushin-kizoku”, literally “aristocratic bachelor”, which has been used for a long time now. And unlike the old days, the Japanese society accepts such people.

It is interesting to note that some males decide not to get married young because of low income; they feel they cannot feed his prospect family with his income. With this reason, some people explicitly say that they prefer their prospect wife to continue working after marriage instead of becoming a full-time housewife.

As for the female side, many people now in 30s and 40s preferred to keep on working after marriage (at least until they give birth to a baby) but according to a recent online article, to the author’s surprise, quite a few females in early 20s, even highly-educated, dream of becoming full-time housewives early as possible. This indicates that such young females do not want to challenge work life balance and/or unleash their potential to build successful career, from how they see older women. This implies that Japan is still behind diversity.


In the next article, how attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people regarding divorce have been changing will be discussed.

How Are Attitudes and Behaviours of Japanese Changing? (Part 1)

Osaka – Sunday, March 21, 2010

From a TV programme that went on air in the evening of Saturday, March 13, 2010, Japanese people today seem to be changing from what they used to be and/or the stereotype that many people around the globe have on them. The TV programme staff had implemented survey to Japanese people on various topics and the answers were introduced in the programme. Although some results (answers) were as anticipated, some were surprising to the MCS and guests of the programme, and to the author.

From the answers to the questions, the author would like to try to give insight of how attitude and behaviour of Japanese people have been changing, together with background, in this article and upcoming articles. In this article she focuses on income and personal financing aspects.

1. How Japanese people are changing in general?

At least from the answers to the questions, though they do not necessarily cover all aspects of people’s attitudes and behavior, it is prominent that mindset, attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people have been changing. This is in line with the recent Mckinsey Quarterly March 2010 article “The New Japanese Consumer” by Salsberg (2010), in which the conclusion was that Japanese consumers are becoming more like western counterparts. In general, Japanese society and attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people are becoming westernized.

2. What was the question asked to Japanese people about savings and income, and how did they answer?

The question asked was “do you/your household have saving?” The result was that only 3% answered that they do have saving. This was a shock to MC and guests of the TV programme because Japan used to be famous for its high saving rate; as mentioned in the TV programme saving rate used to be as high as 25% a few decades ago.

3. What are the reasons for drastic drop in saving rate?

This was not discussed in the TV programme but the author would say the primary reason is drastic drop in saving rate. This has changed mindset, attitudes and behaviour of Japanese people.

1) Income of Japanese in general stopped increasing and employment are no longer guaranteed after the bubble economy.

The primary reason for sharp drop in saving rate is the fact that income of majority of Japanese people stopped increasing after the burst of bubble economy. In high-growth period (1955 – 1969), stable-growth period (1970 – 1985) and bubble economy (1986 – 1992), their income constantly increased with constant economic growth. Seniority system and lifetime employment also guaranteed their employment and constant income increase.

During these periods they could plan their personal financial with relative ease and buying houses and cars with loans (including paying much money back by bonus) was not a problem. This is one reason why Japanese people used to (could) prefer high-end department stores and pricier regional supermarkets, and willing to pay prices for quality products, as mentioned in McKinsey’s article mentioned above.

However, with the burst of the bubble economy, their income increase and employment are no longer guaranteed. Unemployment rate started to soar. With restructuring, people in 50s, then 40s, and recently in 30s are losing their job. New graduates have difficulty in getting a job; they graduate in March and start working in April but 20% of new graduates who should start working this April still have not found a job.

2) Decrease in income has effect on the society.

It has been pointed out for some years (and in the TV programme) that increasing people has less than 3 million yen income per year, when “3 million yen income per year” is said to be the bottom line of making a decent living. It is officially regarded that people below this level income is of poverty.

People categorized in this poverty zone include those with skills, competencies and motivation and working hard, long hours, not only who are unemployed. “Working poor” was coined to describe such people. Indeed, to the author’s surprise, there are some people reported in news who die from hunger, in developed country of Japan that is supporting financially to other countries as ODA etc.! Such people, although are of poverty zone, feel guilty of benefitting from welfare aid and do not ask for the aid. It is with this situation that, a well known Japanese economist wrote a book on “How to live by 3 million yen income per year” a few years ago.

3) Decrease in income also has been changing mindset, attitudes and behaviours of Japanese people.

Japanese people used to have strong sense of “belonging to middle class”, but after the bubble economy bursted and especially from Koizumi administration period when bipolarization became so prominent, many Japanese people started to emphasize that there are winners and losers. While there are exceptional “riches” including those who made much money by IT business etc., many of ex-middle classes are falling to the poverty zone.

Under such a circumstances, people, including those who used to be described as “money spenders”, became rather steady, hunting for value, as mentioned in McKinsey’s survey result mentioned above, and came to be strategic in personal financing and saving for all ages (and career building). People in 30s and 40s who were brought up in economic growth and bubble economy were often described as “spend and enjoy today, tomorrow should be OK” compared to older generation described as “limit spending today and save for tomorrow”. But with less income, people in 30s and 40s started to change their attitude about spending. And people in 20s, born after the burst of bubble economy, are “be steady today because you never know about tomorrow”. Therefore, in general they are extremely steady in money spending and strategic in their life plan and personal financing including saving.

However, the TV programme indicates that negative effect of decrease in income and unstable employment seem to be greater than such positive effect to increase saving. This led to drop in saving rate, which seems westernization on the surface.


The topic of the upcoming articles is marriage and divorce, from the same TV programme.


References:-

Salsberg, Brian (2010), The New Japanese Consumer McKinsey Quarterly
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Retail_Consumer_Goods/Strategy_Analysis/The_new_Japanese_consumer_2548