Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T09:12:43.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Divorce in contemporary Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Hiroshi Fukurai  and
Jon Alston
Hiroshi Fukurai
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
Jon Alston
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Data from the 1985–86 Japanese census are analysed to explore the determinants of the divorce rates in Japan's forty-seven prefectures, using two theoretical models: (a) the social integration model, which is shown to have a greater utility in predicting Japanese divorce levels than (b), the human capital model. Female emigration patterns play a significant role in affecting the divorce rate. Population increase and net household income are also important predictors of the Japanese divorce rate and urbanization has a great influence in modern Japan. Demographic and aggregate variables such as migration, urbanization, and socioeconomic factors are useful when organized under a social integration model.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 453 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, J. (1986) The American Samurai: Blending American and Japanese Managerial Practices. de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Arnott, C. (1972) Husbands' attitude and wives' commitment to employment. J. Marr. & Fam. 34, 673.Google Scholar
Cannon, K. L. & Gingles, R. (1959) Social factors related to divorce rates for urban counties in Nebraska. Rur. Sociol. 21, 43.Google Scholar
Cherlin, A. J. (1981) Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
De Vos, G. (1973) Socialization for Achievement. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vos, G. & Wagatsuma, H. (1966) Japan's Invisible Race: Caste in Culture and Personality. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glenn, N. D. & Shelton, B. A. (1985) Regional differences in divorce in the United States. J. Marr. & Fam. 47, 641.Google Scholar
Glenn, N. D. & Supancic, M. (1984) Sociological and demographic correlates of divorce and separation in the United States: an update and reconsideration. J. Marr. & Fam. 46, 563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glick, P. C. (1963) Marriage instability: variations by size of place and religion. Milbank meml Fund Q. Bull. 41, 43.Google Scholar
Glickman, N. J. (1979) The Growth and Management of the Japanese Urban System. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Goode, W. J. (1963) World Revolution and Family Patterns. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Goode, W. J. (1971) Family disorganization. In: Contemporary Social Problems, 3rd edn, pp. 467–544. Edited by Merton, R. K. & Nisbet, R.. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York.Google Scholar
Huber, J. & Spitz, G. (1980) Considering divorce: an expansion of Becker's theory of marital instability. Am. J. Sociol. 86, 75.Google Scholar
Huth, C. M. (1978) Married women's work status: the influence of parents and husbands. J. Vocational Behav. 13, 272.Google Scholar
Kalback, W. E. (1975) The demography of marriage. In: Marriage, Family and Society, pp. 59–84. Edited by Wakil, S. P.. Butterworth, Toronto.Google Scholar
Kephart, W. (1966) The Family, Society and the Individual, 2nd edn.Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C. & McRae, J. A. (1982) The effect of wives' employment on the mental health of married men and women. Am. sociol. Rev. 47, 216.Google Scholar
Kitagawa, J. M. (1987) On Understanding Japanese Religion. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Kumagai, F. (1983) Changing divorce in Japan. J. Fam. Hist. 8, 107.Google Scholar
Lee, G. R. (1982) Family Structure and Interaction: A Comparative Analysis, 2nd edn.University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Leslie, G. R. (1976) The Family in Social Context, 3rd edn.Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Makabe, T. (1980) Provincial variations in divorce rates: a Canadian case. J. Marr. & Fam. 42, 171.Google Scholar
Morioka, K. (1987) A Japanese perspective on the life course: emerging and diminishing patterns. J. Fam. Hist. 12, 243.Google Scholar
Mosk, C. (1983) Patriarchy and Fertilily: Japan and Sweden, 1880–1960. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Pang, H. & Hanson, S. M. (1968) Highest divorce rates in western United States. Sociol. social Res. 52, 228.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. (1959) The social structure of the family. In: The Family: Its Function and Density, pp. 241–272. Edited by Sushen, R. N.. Harper, New York.Google Scholar
Pearlin, L. I. & Johnson, J. S. (1977) Marital status, life strains and depression. Am. sociol. Rev. 72, 704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimers, C. (1985) Cultural differences in labor force participation among married women. Am. econ. Rev. 75, 251.Google Scholar
Rodman, H. (1965) Talcott Parsons' view of the changing American family. In: Marriage, Family and Society, pp. 262–286. Edited by Rodman, H.. Random House, New York.Google Scholar
Roos, P. A. (1983) Marriage and women's occupational attainment in cross-cultural perspective. Am. sociol. Rev. 48, 852.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelton, B. A. (1987) Variations in divorce rates by community size: a test of the social integration explanation. J. Marr. & Fam. 49, 827.Google Scholar
Shoji, K. (1988) Chiiki Shakai Keikaku to Jumin Jichi (Regional Social Planning and Public Autonomy). Azusa, Tokyo.Google Scholar
South, S. J. (1985) Economic conditions and the divorce rate: a time-series analysis of the post-war United States. J. Marr. & Fam. 47, 31.Google Scholar
South, S. J. (1988) Sex ratios, economic power, and women's roles: a theoretical extension and empirical test. J. Marr. & Fam. 50, 10.Google Scholar
Statistics Bureau, Management and Coordination Agency (1988) Population Census of Japan. Government Publications Service Centre, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Taeuber, I. B. (1958) The Population of Japan. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Trent, K. & South, S. J. (1989) Structural determinants of the divorce rate: a cross-societal analysis. J. Marr. & Fam. 51, 391.Google Scholar
Trovato, F. (1986) The relationship between migration and the provincial divorce rate in Canada, 1971 and 1978: a reassessment. J. Marr. & Fam. 48, 207.Google Scholar