قصة الكتاب :
Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, 2010. 251 pp. ¥1,600. ISBN 978-4-492-
22303-1.
Yamada Masahiro
Born in 1957. Professor at Chūō University. Specializes in the sociology
of the family, with a focus on using sociology to decipher
human relationships. Works include Parasaito shinguru no jidai [The
Era of the “Parasite Single”], Wākingu pua jidai [The Era of the
Working Poor], and Naze wakamono wa hoshuka suru no ka: Hantensuru
genjitsu to ganbō [Why Young People Become Conservative:
A Reversal of Reality and Hopes].

Creating chances for meeting members of the opposite sex or actively using an
introduction agency with a view to marriage is known as konkatsu, or marriage
hunting. This book—edited by Yamada Masahiro, who coined the term—makes
an in-depth investigation of the phenomenon. It highlights not only the problems
of marriage facing young people but also wider social problems facing modern-day
Japan.
The book aims to give a better grasp of the phenomenon by presenting papers
by researchers alongside evidence from people from marriage go-between agencies
and by introducing local government schemes to promote marriage. The evidence
from go-between agencies shows us things that only insiders would know, while
local government schemes shed light on the way in which these administrations
seek to intervene in the process.
Of particular interest is that even marriage hunting has its differences according
to the times. Prior to the economic downturn brought on by the Lehman
Brothers bankruptcy, the only people involved in marriage hunting were those
past the so-called marriageable age. After this financial crisis, which stemmed
from America in 2008, the majority of people involved were women out to gain
a man who could command a stable, high income even in the midst of a recession.
The book’s consideration of marriage hunting and the reaction of the media
that reports on the topic allow a reading of the trends in a rapidly changing society
and the changes in people’s awareness. In addition, reports on love and marriage
in the United States and marriage hunting in China provide interesting comparative
viewpoints to the marriage-hunting phenomenon in Japan. (CK)