ABSTRACT
The never-married single population has surged in Japan, and many have attributed this to women’s choice to remain unmarried. The popular media and some social scientists in Japan assumed that women stayed single because they prioritized career over marriage, selshly pursued materialistic luxury, or resisted succumbing to patriarchy. With this assumption and the association of singlehood with population problems, women’s single status has been an open target of criticism and ridicule – or falsely celebrated as a sign of advancement in women’s social position. However, my research ndings, presented in the previous four chapters, show that choice was not the driving force of this phenomenon and that women are far from equal to men in Japan. Many factors were involved in the process of the single population’s increase: Two major shifts in the economy (rst the boom and then the recession) were pivotal; Single women’s life circumstances differed between the two cohorts, and this led to cohort differences in reasons women stayed unmarried; Enforcement of the traditional marriage age norm rapidly
weakened, but traditional gender ideology persisted while showing some sign of change among the younger cohort; Parents’ and peers’ marriages inuenced women’s views of marriage, but differently by cohort; Multiple factors mutually affected each other and caused many women to drift into singlehood. The answer to the question “Why aren’t Japanese women getting married?” is complex. In this concluding chapter, I rst summarize how a large number of women from each cohort ended up single – sorting out this seeming jumble of too many factors – and then point out key explanatory variables. As I mentioned in the rst chapter, the single population increased and is increasing signicantly in a great many countries, yet this global social phenomenon has been relatively understudied – and denitely undertheorized in sociology. But, in the context of Japan, this subject has been well studied by social scientists, primarily because of its association with demographic problems (i.e., declined birth rates, aging population, and population decline). Most studies on Japan, however, were limited in scope and only tested the applicability of existing theories. Moreover, though many of these studies failed to support current sociological theories built mostly on observations of (a limited number of ) Western countries,1 they did not contribute to the improvement of theory.2 Most of them also assumed women’s “choice” to remain unmarried.3 The government and popular media in Japan also took interests in increased singlehood, particularly among women (due to its association with the demographic problem), and the Japanese government implemented various social policies and programs aimed at increasing fertility (within marriage, and thus indirectly at increasing marriage). Yet, the single population continued to rise and fertility rates hardly changed. These policies and programs have been largely ineffective in solving this “problem.” My study delved into the life stories of two cohorts of women – both of which saw a surge in the number of never-married singles – and identies previously overlooked causal factors and an intricate process behind the increase in single population. Within these factors and this process, the persistence of gender inequality was salient. Thus, this study has implications for the sociological theory of singlehood, social policies, and the empowerment of women in Japan (and perhaps elsewhere). I discuss my study’s implications after giving a summary of the research ndings.
