ABSTRACT
Social and media discourses in Japan have long upheld a view about the best time for women to marry. Japan is experiencing a boom in female singleness; the average age of first marriage for both men and women currently hovers around the age of thirty. This chapter discusses the historical construction of female singlehood in Japanese society. It introduces the artifacts, four single-centered josei dorama from 2006-2016. The chapter focuses on the navigation of female singlehood in the dramas, which emerges from the contradiction experienced in choosing between marriage/romance and career path. It discusses historical female gender construction and look specifically at the discourse around the single female regarding marriage status and career path. The chapter shows how media discourse constructs the 'expression of gender' regarding female singlehood in Japanese society with respect to the double-edged sword presented between the choices of career and preferred marital relationship.
