A government survey suggests that marriage is no longer an obvious part of the future for many young people in Japan. What has changed—the economy, our values, or simply the meaning we give to freedom and companionship?
This morning’s newspaper reported the results of a survey by Japan’s Children and Families Agency on attitudes toward marriage among people aged 15 to 39.
Thirty-five percent said they had no intention of getting married.
Another 37 percent said they would like to marry “someday,” suggesting that marriage is no longer taken for granted as part of a young person’s future.
If fewer and fewer people are getting married in the first place, perhaps we are already beyond the point of simply discussing Japan’s declining birthrate.
I belong to a generation that came near the end of an era when romance seemed to reign supreme—the generation of Yuming, Fumi Saimon, the “Double Asano” actresses, and the movie Take Me Out to the Snowland.
For people of my generation, it felt almost natural that both we and our friends would eventually get married.
When I think back and ask myself why I got married, I remember that I was going through various things in my personal life when I met my wife.
She saved me.
It was not simply because of that momentum, of course, but we eventually got married.
At the time, I never thought about marriage in terms such as “losing my free time” or “having less time for my hobbies.”
Perhaps that was partly because I did not have any particular hobby back then.
But more fundamentally, I do not think I ever really thought about the concept of “free time” itself.
What exactly is free time?
Perhaps it means being able to live entirely as one pleases.
In one sense, that sounds enviable.
In another, a life with no one to talk to sounds rather lonely.
And yet, considering the remarkable progress of AI in recent years, things may be changing again.
If we can have a companion who always gives appropriate responses, then another human being—someone whose moods we have to consider and with whom we sometimes quarrel—may simply begin to feel troublesome.
After all, AI can be switched on and off whenever we choose.
If that is the case, it may seem much easier to find a partner in a virtual world than to get married at all.
If fewer people continue to marry, and eventually fewer children are born as well, what kind of society will Japan become?
I find myself increasingly uneasy about the answer.
Perhaps the future of marriage depends not only on whether we still want companionship, but on whether we are willing to give up a little freedom for another human being.
・・・
Vocabulary for Learners
take something for granted
To regard something as normal or certain without thinking much about it.
当然のことと思う、当たり前だと思う
declining birthrate
A situation in which fewer children are being born over time.
少子化、出生率の低下
reign supreme
To be extremely important or dominant in a particular period or situation.
最も重要なものとして君臨する、全盛である
momentum
The force or feeling that keeps something moving or developing.
勢い、成り行き
as one pleases
In whatever way one wants, without having to follow other people’s wishes.
思いのままに、気ままに
enviable
Desirable enough to make other people wish they had the same thing.
うらやましい
companion
Someone who spends time with you and provides friendship or company.
仲間、伴侶、話し相手
quarrel
To have an angry disagreement or argument with someone.
口論する、けんかする
troublesome
Causing difficulty, inconvenience, or annoyance.
面倒な、厄介な
uneasy
Worried or uncomfortable because you are uncertain about what may happen.
不安な、落ち着かない
#Marriage #Japan #ArtificialIntelligence #DecliningBirthrate #pathologist
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