ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the historical and contemporary marriage practices and trends in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in Japan, Thailand and China. Four aspects are discussed for each of these countries: the process for establishing a marriage, which is related to the definition of marriage in each society; the couple’s living arrangements after marriage; the changes undergone in marriage practices through the process of modernity; and the demography of marriage illustrated by available data. Japan, Thailand and China are selected for this analysis because they provide examples of the interplay of two ideal types of marriage, patriarchal marriage and flexible marriage. The final section presents some recent marriage trends in the region.
