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Modernization and Divorce in Japan Motonobu Mukai

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Modernization and Divorce in Japan Motonobu Mukai Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2004 Modernization and Divorce in Japan Motonobu Mukai Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Asian Studies Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Other Sociology Commons, and the Social Statistics Commons Recommended Citation Mukai, Motonobu, "Modernization and Divorce in Japan" (2004). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Paper 751. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MODERNIZATION AND DIVORCE IN JAPAN By Motonobu Mukai Thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology Approved by Dr. Kenneth P. Ambrose, Department Chairperson Dr. Richard A. Garnett, Committee Chairperson Dr. Frederick P. Roth Marshall University 2004 ABSTRACT “MODERNIZATION AND DIVORCE IN JAPAN” By Motonobu Mukai Divorce rates in Japan have increased since the mid-1960s, and even more rapidly since the 1990s. Divorce rates decreased throughout the period of industrialization, although modernization theory has argued that economic development brings pervasive cultural changes (including higher divorce rates). However, values regarding family are also influenced by the persistence of traditional values. Before WWII in Japan, a decreasing divorce rate was influenced by political ideology, which deliberately intended to change traditional ways of marriage and divorce. After WWII, however, this ideology diminished, and material affluence has led to an individualistic view that in turn has led to higher divorce rates since the 1960s. Moreover, the Japanese cultural beliefs have been transformed from a group-orientation to a more individualistic orientation, triggered by the long stagnation of the 1990s. Modernization has brought autonomy to the Japanese. Today divorce is a reflection of autonomous and rational decision to pursue individual happiness. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I.................................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................... 1 Definition of Divorce in Japan.............................................................................................................. 6 A Family Registration System Called “Koseki” in Japan .................................................................... 7 CHAPTER II ................................................................................................................................................ 9 ANALYSES OF DIVORCE IN JAPAN AND LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 9 CHAPTER III............................................................................................................................................. 15 HISTORICAL REASONS FOR DECREASING DIVORCE RATES BEFORE WORLD WAR II................................ 15 A Stable High-Divorce Rate Society in Earlier Japan........................................................................ 15 Industrialization during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) ...................................................................... 17 The Traditional Extended Family Called the “Ie” Household in Japan ............................................ 19 Likely Causes of a Decreasing Tendency in Divorce Rates................................................................ 21 CHAPTER IV............................................................................................................................................. 27 CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND WORLD WAR II...................................................................... 27 Demographic Transition in Japan ...................................................................................................... 27 Effect of the New Constitution and the Revision of the Civil Code..................................................... 32 A Conjecture on Divorce Rates during the Postwar Confusion.......................................................... 33 Likely Causes of Increasing Divorce Rates after the Mid-1960s........................................................ 34 CHAPTER V............................................................................................................................................... 35 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AFTER WORLD WAR II AND ITS DRIVING FORCE: THE “JAPANESE ECONOMIC SYSTEM” AS A NEW DOMINANT SYSTEM ................................................................................................. 35 Economic Development after World War II........................................................................................ 35 Factors Involved in the Rapid Growth of Japanese Economic Development ..................................... 37 The “Japanese Economic System” during the Postwar High Economic Development...................... 38 The Origin of the “Japanese Economic System”................................................................................ 42 The Japanese Economic System as a Dominant System ..................................................................... 44 CHAPTER VI............................................................................................................................................. 46 FAMILY TRANSITION IN JAPAN ................................................................................................................. 46 Urbanization ....................................................................................................................................... 49 Nuclear Family Households................................................................................................................ 51 One-Person Households ..................................................................................................................... 54 Summary of Family Transition ........................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER VII ........................................................................................................................................... 59 THE CHANGES IN ATTITUDES TOWARD MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE........................................................... 59 A Change in Marriage Style: From Arrangement to Love Match....................................................... 59 The Change in Attitudes toward Divorce............................................................................................ 62 iii CHAPTER VIII.......................................................................................................................................... 66 A RAPID UPSURGE IN DIVORCE RATES IN THE 1990S............................................................................... 66 Individualism as a Norm..................................................................................................................... 66 The Collapse of the “Bubble Economy” and Changes in the Economic Environment....................... 66 The Impact on Individuals................................................................................................................... 69 The Postwar Transition of Industrial Structure in Japan ................................................................... 72 A System of Japan under Political Ideology ....................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER IX............................................................................................................................................. 76 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 79 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 82 Appendix A.......................................................................................................................................... 82 Appendix B.......................................................................................................................................... 83 Appendix C.........................................................................................................................................
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