Interracial Marriage in Japan: a Strategy to Maintain Rural Farm Households

Interracial Marriage in Japan: A Strategy to Maintain Rural Farm Households

By

Fumie Kumagai

Professor of Sociology, Kyorin University, Tokyo, Japan

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ABSTRACT

The present study attempts to analyze the issue of interracial marriage in Japan as an outcome of depopulation in rural farming regions and globalization of the Japanese economy. We will discuss historical development, the current situation, difficulties, and possible solutions.

Interracial marriage is a form of exogamy in which a person marries outside of their social group. This form of marriage has existed ever since Japan opened her doors to the world in the Meiji era. During the first half of the 20th century Japan underwent strong influences of nationalism, and interracial marriage was strictly controlled. Immediately after the end of World War II, quite a few Japanese brides married American soldiers who were stationed in Japan. Under the bubble economy in the 1980s Japanese businessmen abroad married foreign brides. With the bursting of the bubble, and with the rapid progress of globalization, a new issue relating to foreign brides in Japan has emerged. That is, an acute shortage of brides in rural farming regions has occurred. To alleviate the situation, foreign brides have been brought in to farming regions in Japan.

Three demographic features of foreign brides in Japan today are highlighted. First, of the total number of newly married couples, the proportion that has one foreign spouse has increased dramatically over the years (1965: .44%; 1990: 3.55%; 2005: 5.81%). Second, of the annual interracial marriages, foreign brides now constitute the majority, rather than foreign grooms (1965: 25.7%; 1990: 38.0%; 2004: 78.2%). Third, these foreign brides come primarily from three regions in Asia, namely, China, the Philippines, and North and South Korea (in 2005, 35.2%, 30.9%, and 18.3%, respectively).

Analyses of demography and the family in Yamagata prefecture confirmed the continuance of the traditional Japanese family structure still today. They also indicated that one of the major factors contributing to the declining fertility rate in Yamagata is, in fact, the lowering of the marriage rate. In fact, the rate for never married men at 50 years of age is now more than one in ten (1960: 1.12%, 2005: 11.35%).

In depth analyses of foreign brides were conducted in several municipalities of Yamagata prefecture that maintain high rates of coresidency and elderly population. We confirmed, then, that there exists a high correlation between foreign brides and traditional three-generation households. Therefore, we can say that “Should the traditional farm household have been revitalized by way of municipal efforts in bringing foreign brides into the farming regions, there would be a significantly high correlation between the proportion of foreign residents and that of three-generation households.”

Key Words: Interracial Marriage, Foreign Brides, Marriage in Rural Farming Regions, Marriage and the Family in Japan