CONTEMPORARY JAPAN: THE JAPANESE FAMILY Divorce |
| Although Japanese family roles have changed considerably in the 20th century, aspects of the traditional ie, or “continuing family,” still remain. The Japanese have a saying that even if an extended family does not live together, parents and grandparents should live near enough to carry over a bowl of hot soup. In this video series, Harvard University professors Theodore Bestor and Helen Hardacre describe the enduring importance of traditional family values in Japan. |
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Helen Hardacre :: In the United States today, as many as half of first marriages end in divorce. But in Japan, the rate of divorce is very low. I believe it has never gone much beyond two percent of all marriages. Theodore Bestor :: One of the interesting things about looking at the history of the Japanese family over the last century or so is that Japan is one of the few countries that’s gone through industrialization and had the rate of divorce drop. In traditional Japanese families, the traditional ie, there was actually a fairly high rate of divorce, where families would send back a bride, or in some cases send back an adopted son-in-law, if they didn’t feel that the marriage was working, or that the person wasn’t able to contribute to the household. And as that traditional family system was transformed into the contemporary nuclear family, and more and more marriages were based on free choice, or relatively free choice, actually the divorce rate went down a great deal. In most countries going through urbanization and industrialization, it’s quite the opposite. |
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