12/31/2005
The Asahi Shimbun
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200512310086.html
More Japanese may be staying single longer, but at least one type of couple doesn't seem to have cold feet: Japanese and foreigners.
In fact, one in 15 Japanese who got married last year wed a foreigner, according to a survey released Thursday.
The number of such mixed marriages last year hit a record 48,414, or 6.6 percent of all marriages involving Japanese, the survey said.
Marriages between Japanese and foreigners are up 50 percent from 10 years ago, even as the total number of Japanese tying the knot continues to level off.
The increase is mainly attributable to the rise in the number of foreigners who are settling in Japan, sources said.
The survey was conducted by Setsuko Ri, associate professor of nursing science at Tokyo Women's Medical University. It is based on health ministry statistics and marriage reports submitted to Japanese embassies or other government offices overseas.
A total of 720,417 marriages involving Japanese were reported to local government offices in Japan last year. Of them, 39,511 were between Japanese and foreigners. Nearly 80 percent of those were between Japanese men and foreign women.
That figure is reversed outside Japan. Of the 10,842 marriages involving Japanese reported to embassies and government offices overseas, 8,903 were between Japanese and foreigners, 85 percent of those between Japanese women and foreign men.
Of the overall total of 48,414 marriages between Japanese and foreigners, 32,209 were between Japanese men and foreign women. Thirty-eight percent of the wives were Chinese, followed by Filipinas at 26 percent and South or North Koreans at 18 percent.
The remaining 16,205 marriages were between Japanese women and foreign men. American husbands accounted for 24 percent, followed by South or North Koreans at 17 percent and Chinese at 10 percent.(IHT/Asahi: December 31,2005)