Even though staying single is not necessarily a taboo topic in most parts of the world, for most Japanese people, it’s still uncharted territory that not many are willing to enter. However, the number of people staying single in Japan is increasing every year, and they feel that living alone brings more benefits.
We at Bright Side found out why people in Japan want to lead a single life, and they actually might be doing the right thing.
Women in Japan are choosing to stay single more and more mostly because they want to find out how they can live on their own and find their strengths. Up until not that long ago, those who stayed single were forced to suffer from insults from their community, but today, this is fading away.
Today, there are more and more women who have jobs in Japan. Even if this seems great, their cultural norms are not on track. Wives still must bear the responsibility of child care and housework, and they’re expected to help aging relatives on their own. Due to these double standards, women don’t want to get married at all and wish to stay focused on their freedom and work.
Even though 70% to 75% of women from ages 25 to 60 and older have jobs, their career is halted due to housework and child care. That’s why, for women in Japan, getting married means acquiring many more responsibilities at home that they’ll need to do on their own. Due to this, they’ll have a lot less time to do what they enjoy, including working on their career. That’s just another reason why they choose to focus on their careers and stay single.
Some women opt not to get married in order to take care of an old family member, mostly mothers. They simply feel like they don’t have the courage to leave them and get married, even though they may have had a few opportunities to do so.
According to Japanese men, their living arrangements and jobs don’t really inspire them to get married and have a family. This has made many men decide to stay single. According to the social norms, men are the ones who should take care of the wife and family financially, and many of them feel like they can’t do it.
One of the reasons why men in Japan prefer to stay single is not wanting to share their money with other people. They want to spend it on themselves, to have freedom on what they can use their money for, without any restrictions.
Japanese people are less interested in having relationships and are more into personal freedom, especially because cities give them a very easy single life. There are even restaurants that serve solo diners and capsule hotels designed for men who travel alone.
Do you think these reasons are enough for you to want to stay single? Do you prefer to stay single or do you want to be in a relationship? According to you, what other reasons do you think make single life better?
