The Country

Japan, an archipelago consisting of almost 7,000 islands, is located on the eastern region of Asia, separated from the continent by the Sea of Japan and located directly above the Pacific Ring Of Fire, a tectonically unstable region. The name Japan, or Nippon in Japanese, roughly translates as ‘the origin of the sun’, lending weight to the custom of calling Japan as “The Land Of Rising Sun’.

Japan rose from the devastation of the Second World War at an incredible pace, transforming an agricultural based economy into a modern manufacturing intensive model. Foreign direct investments and rapid global expansion of private firms, introduction of progressive manufacturing principles coupled with superior work ethics is responsible for creating the second largest economy in the world behind the United States.

Japan has a population base of approximately 130 million people. In a largely homogenous society, the majority Japanese are practitioners of an amalgamation of Buddhism, Shintoism and Taoist religion.

Despite being a constitutional monarchy, Japanese Emperors are largely a ceremonial figureheads and true power is lies with the Prime Minister, chosen from the 722 member Diet, an elected legislative body.

Relationship With A Japanese Woman

The natural submissiveness of the archetypical kimono-clad Japanese women, a long held view propagated by both Japanese and Western men alike, are the social by-product of an aristocratic culture dating back to the Shogunate period (1192-1868) of Japanese history.

The popular traditional phrase of ‘good wife, wise mother’ forms the psychological foundation of a female child’s growth in Japan. Despite the inclusion of an equal rights clause in the 1947 constitution by the American occupying forces, the much heralded advent of ‘modan gaaru’ (modern girls) movement failed to take off, and any resulting changes since then are superficial at best, as the belief of a woman’s subserviency has proven to be too deeply ingrained in the Japanese psyche.

Relationships between Japanese women and gaijin (white man) are still largely uncommon here. The most frequently cited reason is the language barrier, although, societal pressure do play a notable part. However, the demure, soft spoken and cultured beauties of the land have been known to cause severe heart palpitations among gaijins and the only antidote for this ailment is marriage.

Marriage

While proposing to your Japanese girlfriend is a relatively straightforward proposition, the process thereafter will require your complete assimilation into the Japanese culture to allow a more thorough and meaningful appreciation of the local customs and tradition.

For starters, the engagement ceremony, called yunio, is a symbolic fertility treatise between a man and a woman. Gifts, in the form of squids, kelps and embroidered hand-made paper fans represent the couple’s fertility and long marriage.

The wedding ritual sees the bride dressed in a white kimono, the color of purity while the groom is dressed in a black kimono. The highlight of the wedding is the sansankudo (three three nine) ceremony, where the couple takes three sips each from three cups, an offering to the inanimate spirits of the land, in the hope than prosperity and longevity will be granted to them.

The symbolism of these rituals extends even to the wedding banquet where seafood features prominently on the menu. Depending on the exact theme of the wedding, guess may be offered courses of lobsters, fishes and crustaceans, which embody the various facets of life.

Regulation

It is worth noting that under Japanese law, a woman cannot remarry within 6 months from the date her previous divorce or dissolution of marriage. Foreigners intending to marry Japanese women are required to prepare a sworn affidavit at their national embassy affirming of their fitness to marry.