As Chie Asahara and her generation approach 30, they have achieved something rare for Japanese women: They have careers, financial independence and personal freedom.
The path they are forging in this traditional, male-oriented culture has led to an unintended demographic crisis: fewer children. Unless it can be managed, the trend eventually might lead to the sapping of Japan’s wealth and its status as a great economic power.
Many of Japan’s young women do not want to get married. They are postponing the event–or not getting married at all–because they think becoming a traditional Japanese wife will mean giving up their freedom.
“I haven’t found anyone attractive enough for me to change my life,” said Asahara, a 28-year-old former office worker studying to be a clinical psychologist.
Because women are delaying marriage, Japan’s birthrate has dropped sharply and is one of the lowest in the world. In 1989, the number of births per 1,000 population was 10.1; by 1995, it had dropped to 9.5 per 1,000. At the same time, the Japanese have the longest life expectancy.
The result is a rapidly aging population that soon will begin to shrink. Eventually, unless these trends are reversed, there might not be enough workers to support industry or pay for the care of the growing numbers of elderly. The drop in births is a confounding issue for Japan not only because it could lead to an economic catastrophe but also because it represents social developments that cannot be reversed.
“Marriage is a very private issue; the government can’t interfere,” said Shigesato Takahashi, a director at the National Institute of Population.
Japan lags the West in granting women equality, and the Baby Bust is actually the first real indication that women are achieving independence.
Overall, women are not seen as social leaders and they leave the work force at a high rate after getting married or having children. In the last decade, women have started to make gains, and while the majority of women employed in white-collar jobs are clerical workers, there are more opportunities for them to pursue careers.
Having experienced independence, women are less interested in the responsibilities of being a wife and mother, which include not only running the household but also caring for the husband’s parents.
“Marriage is considered a family event, not an individual event,” said Keiko Higuchi, a professor and commentator on women’s issues. “A wife is considered not only married to her husband but to his family.”
Traditionally, Japanese women were married before the age of 26; otherwise, convention held that they were too old. But today, the average marriage age for women is a few months over 26.
Because delaying marriage usually results in fewer children, Japan’s birthrate has steadily declined and stands at 1.42, well below the 2.08 required to sustain Japan’s current population of 125 million. By some estimates, the population will fall to 90 million by the year 2050.
At first, Japanese leaders seemed ill-equipped to respond to the changes. A few years ago, before Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto took office, he was pilloried for reportedly suggesting that the root of the birthrate problem was that more women were going to college. There are still men in positions of influence who quietly blame women for the low birthrate.
“It’s a very sensitive issue that’s difficult to talk about,” said Junsuke Deguchi, a pharmaceutical company executive, part of a Tokyo Chamber of Commerce group that traveled to Europe to study the birthrate issue. “But it started with women getting higher education and becoming richer,” he said. “They tend to put more emphasis on their own work and cultural activities and tend to resist the idea of staying home with children.”
Deguchi acknowledges that he’s old-fashioned and that the idea men and women might be seen as equals, including sharing equal responsibility for child-rearing, is beyond him. For example, he said if a male executive at his company tried to leave the office at 5:30 p.m. to pick up the children at a day-care center, he would be considered strange.
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“My generation can’t imagine sharing the housework,” he said.
Japanese women say this is the attitude that makes marriage seem impossible. While they do not consider their rejection of marriage a political statement, the reality is they have a hard time imagining becoming wives because they don’t think Japanese men would be supportive.
“Personally, I think it’s better to get married later, like around 40,” said 21-year-old Tamiko Terasawa, who works at a travel agency and likes traveling abroad. “I’d like to have a boyfriend but once we’re married I’d feel like I’m supposed to devote my life to this person. I know myself: I’d be the only one making sacrifices and I wouldn’t like it.”
The balance between a career and motherhood is never easy to maintain, and millions of Americans struggle with the same issue. But Japanese society is only beginning to address the challenge. It is still the norm for men in Japan to sacrifice their lives to their jobs, while women stay at home to devote their lives to their children.
“Men understand intellectually that the old traditional ways don’t work, and they are trying to get closer to female feelings so they can live together, but there’s still a gap,” said Ryoko Shinozuka, the marketing director for O-net, a Japanese dating service.
A new government study on how to deal with the declining birthrate goes into remarkable detail chronicling the societal obstacles faced by women who want to be more than stay-at-home moms.
The report is a far-reaching examination of modern Japanese life and a stinging critique of Japan as a male-dominated bastion. It notes that the Japanese employment system is inflexible, failing to provide women enough opportunities and to grant men the leeway to help with their families.
It calls for a national discussion about why only 1 percent of children are born out of wedlock, compared with 30 percent or more in Europe, and it suggests that a high abortion rate in Japan contributes to the low birthrate. Specifically, it notes that there are health effects on women who have multiple abortions.
Women are deeply skeptical that any real social changes can be made.
At a Tokyo restaurant after working hours, a group of friends, including Asahara the psychology student, met to talk about their lives and they agreed that if they got married they would be forced to choose between their current lifestyles and their husbands. They also agreed they would choose independence over marriage.
“We’re all debating it,” said Michiko Abe, a 27-year-old office worker, “but once I reach the age of 30, there will be no alternative because all the single men will be married.”
Asahara said she could not imagine marrying a typical Japanese man who expects her to stay home. She can’t imagine finding someone who will permit her to retain her independence.
“The ideal partner would understand my irregular work routine,” she said, “and we’d share professional interests. He would be someone who understands my job. Someone I could discuss things with or even argue with, like you see in American movies.”