Changing Divorce in Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID6079920
AuthorsFumie Kumagai (0000-0003-4929-3636, Graduate School of International Relations of the International University of Japan, corresponding author)
Year1983
Volume8
Issue1
Pages85-108
Publication date1983-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Family History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0363-1990 • E-ISSN: 1552-5473
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/036319908300800105
OpenAlexW2008812304
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited13

A century of historical perspective on divorce in Japan confirms that it occurred at an extraordinarily high rate before the turn of the century, and then declined until 1964. But with the progress of industrialization to even more ad vanced levels during the postwar era, divorce rates in Japan have gradually risen again, although not to the same high degree as in the West. For the first time, there seems to be a positive correlation between the level of industrialization and urbanization in Japan and the increasing divorce rate in the nuclear family. Recent statistics on divorce in Japan show that more and more women initiate divorce, that an increasing number of divorced women prefer to remain single, and that changing patterns of divorce have resulted in a lowering of the fertility rate, all of which may have significant implications for the demographic future of the Japanese population. With the development of industrialization and urbanization, the Westernization of lifestyles, and the growing autonomy of women in society, an increase in the divorce rate in Japanese society is likely. It is true, however, that the family is still one of the most fundamental institutions in Japan. It is to be hoped that the value traditionally accorded to the family will counteract the recent upward trend in divorce rate and reduce it in the foreseeable future

Autonomy · Demographic economics · Developed country · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Family planning · Family values · Fertility · Industrialisation · Modernization theory · Political science · Population · Research methodology · Social change · Sociology · Total fertility rate · Urbanization · Westernization · Demography · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Urbanization and City Planning