Single Japanese Returning Home for Summer Feel Pressure Over Marriage Questions

Many Japanese people return to the family home around the summer festival of Obon in mid-August. It is a time to catch up, and possibly ask personal questions.

Omicale, which runs Japan’s largest marriage matchmaking party portal site, conducted an online survey of its members from late July through early August and received 1,170 responses. The results showed that when they visit their hometown, 41.6% of women and 47.5% of men have been asked about whether they plan to get married.

For those who answered “yes,” the main person enquiring about marriage was most commonly their mother. This was far and away the top answer, and particularly so for men at 50.5%. For women, a grandparent or aunt/uncle was more likely to ask than their father.

While parents have their children’s best interests at heart and want them to be happy, quite a few people feel dejected knowing they will be asked if they plan to get married whenever they return to their hometown. Of the respondents, 88.1% of women and 76.0% of men said they have felt under pressure by being asked.

In response to the question about what they did not like their parents and relatives saying to them, what both men and women hated the most was being compared to family members and friends who were married. And, although the order differed by gender, in second and third place were that it is best to have children as soon as possible and news about someone else’s marriage.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner image © Pixta.)