Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangetsu
Japan's society is a bit strange in many ways, and romantic relationships are not exception. Where else in the world have you seen so many love hotels? These don't exist only in the cities, but also out in the countryside. The clients of love hotels are often married or unmarried couples, but just as often they are used by those who are having affairs. It's often shocking how much fooling around actually goes on.
That Japanese have less sex than anyone else is a well known fact, and this phenomena has been discussed by the Japanese media on several occasions. Some put it up to stress in the workplace, while others reason that large numbers of couples marry for convenience' sake, and not out of love or romance.
More than one of the people I am acquainted with has talked about how his wife or soon-to-be wife is on his back about his job and income. The usual complaint is that he doesn't make enough money to have a family (meaning he doesn't make enough for her to quit her job and stay home). So these guys are working a full week, and teaching private students on the side to make extra cash.
Japanese women I talk to rarely have wonderful things to say about their husbands. They are most happy when their husbands are away on business trips, or working extra hours in the office. The more time they spend around their husbands, the less happy they are. They keep the bankbook and control the access to their husband's pay, giving him a little each day to pay for necessities, but rarely anything more.
Of course, there are plenty of couple in Japan, both Japanese and mixed, which are quite happy and "normal" (by western standards), but I can't honestly say that these "normal" couples are in the majority. Things are getting better as women find more opportunities for meaningful work, and western influences which make love a priority over convenience or security are having a partial effect as well.
I'll discuss this topic with my girlfriend tonight and see what her opinion is. Where better to get the facts than from the source?
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Do you have any articles or youtube links in English or Japanese to substantiate this? Honestly I have heard of stuff like this before but I can only recall hearing it on internet forums as hearsay (much like this). When I think about it, it sounds like a bunch of crap, because for me most of the couples I know fall into the "normal" category as you say, perhaps it is just the area of the country I live in, but I have yet to find a reason to truly buy into these stories about the majority of Japanese relationships being loveless legal arrangements.
