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Japan foreign marriage is a phenomenon occurring in rural Japan. In recent years rural Japanese men have begun taking foreign brides as a way of countering the reduced number of women who are of marriageable, childbearing age that are willing to marry rural Japanese men. The phenomenon has created a new industry of foreign marriage brokering that uses both local governments〔http://migration.udavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=1253_0_3_0〕 and private organizations〔http://archive.leit.ru/archive/scott-gorman/6.〕 to facilitate the immigration of foreign brides. This is largely a result of an aging population in Japan where approximately 20% of the population is over the age of 65, which is exceptionally high,〔(19 prefectures to see 20% population drops by '35 | The Japan Times Online )〕 a fertility rate of only 1.3,〔 and increased opportunities for women and increased costs in child care.〔Yutaka Kosai, Jun Saito, Naohiro Yashiro. Declining Population and Sustained Economic Growth: Can They Coexist? The American Economic Review, Vol. 88, No. 2. May 1998. Pp. 412–6.〕 == Causes == It is difficult to identify a single direct cause for the practice of foreign brides because it is really the product of an environment. However, there are several factors which have contributed to the environment that fosters this practice. Since 1955 women have increased from 15% to 40% of the work force, reducing the availability to bear children.〔Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese Society. New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003〕 There is the undesirability of the role of a rural housewife. Many women prefer not to be in this role as it severely limits career opportunities and has a social stigma.〔 Rural wives are expected to care for their husbands' parents. This can be a very traumatic experience as the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is very often abusive.〔Vogel, Ezra F. ''Japan's New Middle Class: The Salary Man and His Family in a Tokyo Suburb'', Second edition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971〕 In addition to these duties, a wife will have the burdens of child rearing, household and financial management, and in many cases a share of the agricultural work. Overall, the declining number of marriages is responsible for 50% of the drop in birthrate.〔Retherford, Robert D.; Ogawa, Naohiro; Matsukura Rikiya. Late Marriage and Less Marriage in Japan. Population and Development Review, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Mar. 2001), pp. 65–102.〕 Another aspect that contributes to the phenomenon is the aging population of Japan. For the first time since the 19th century, Japan has been experiencing a population decline during peacetime.〔Burgess, Chris. (Re)constructing Identities: International Marriage Migrants as Potential Agents of Social Change in a Globalizing Japan. Asian Studies Review, Vol. 28, pp. 223–242〕 While there are still many available women of marrying and childbearing age now, the trend of aging in Japanese society will become self-sustaining at some point. Since 1995, Japan has experienced a decrease in the production population, those who are aged 15 to 64.〔(Carrying on with fewer people | The Japan Times Online )〕 There will simply be fewer women to fill these roles. And, as a result of fewer women, there will be fewer children. Marriage rates for women aged 25 to 29 dropped from 82% to 52% from 1970 to 1995.〔Yutaka Kosai, Jun Saito, Naohiro Yashiro. Declining Population and Sustained Economic Growth: Can They Coexist? ''The American Economic Review'', Vol. 88, No. 2. May 1998. pp. 412–6.〕 While this is still far into the future, in some places schools have been replaced with senior centers as there are no children to attend classes.〔(A Baby Bust Empties Out Japan's Schools (washingtonpost.com) )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japan foreign marriage」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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