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| Japan's Princess Nori's fiance
Yoshiki Kuroda and his mother Sumiko bow as they arrive at the
Imperial Palace in Tokyo to meet Emperor Akihito and Empress
Michiko March 19, 2005. (REUTERS/Yuriko
Nakao) | |
The only daughter of Emperor Akihito has been
formally betrothed -- at 35
years old, one of an increasing number of Japanese women who have chosen
to wait for their wedding bells.
Princess Nori's betrothal on Saturday to Yoshiki Kuroda, 39, who works
in the urban planning department at Tokyo city hall, was sealed in a
ceremony when a messenger from his family brought traditional gifts --
bolts of silk, rice wine and sea bream --to the Imperial Palace.
A senior courtier accepted the presents, met the Emperor, Empress and
Princess Nori, and conveyed their message of acceptance. Similar gifts
were to be delivered to Kuroda's family later.
A date for the wedding has not been set, but it is likely to take place
this autumn.
It used to be said in Japan that an unmarried woman was like Christmas
cake: no good after 25.
But Nori joins the growing ranks of Japanese women who are choosing to
get married later, reflecting changes in society and the workplace and
worrying policymakers concerned about a falling birthrate.
Census figures showed that in 2000, some 54 percent of Japanese women
in their late 20s were unmarried, compared to only 24 percent two decades
earlier.
Couples are also opting to
have fewer children, or none at all. The average number of children a
Japanese woman gives birth to in her lifetime fell to a record low of 1.29
in 2003.
Among women Princess Nori's age -- 35 to 39 -- 13.8 percent were single
in 2000 compared to a scant 4.4 percent in 1980.
"Nobody in Japan thinks badly of Nori because she took until 35 to get
married, though," said Harueko Kato, a professor at Tokyo Women's
Christian University. "It merely reflects Japanese society these days."
Analysts said much of the change was due to the 1985 Equal Employment
Opportunity Law, which opened more jobs to women. As a result, more
females have entered the work force and become economically self-reliant.
But with few Japanese men offering to do housework and a shortage of
daycare, many women find
balancing work, home and children too much.
A survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper recently showed 7 in 10
single women preferred to stay unwed.
Princess Nori, also known as Sayako, will have to leave the imperial
family and the quiet palace in central Tokyo for good, about which she has
expressed some anxiety.
But like other women her age,
Nori insists she will keep her part-time job, at an ornithology institute east
of Tokyo.
（Agencies) |
日本明仁天皇唯一的女儿在她35岁的时候正式订婚了。现在越来越多的日本女性选择耐心等待结婚典礼上的钟声响起，她也是其中的一位。
纪宫公主和黑田庆树于上周六（3月19日）举行了“纳彩之仪”，现年39岁的黑田庆树任职于东京市政厅城市整备局。在订婚仪式上，来自黑田家族的一位“使者”来到皇宫并呈上了传统彩礼——几匹丝绸、清酒和新鲜的大鲷鱼。
一位宫内厅长官收下这些彩礼后去晋见天皇、皇后与纪宫公主，然后向“使者”转达了皇室的意思，表示接受黑田庆树对纪宫公主的求婚。随后，皇室也向黑田庆树家回赠了相似的礼物。
婚礼的日期目前还没有确定，估计会在今年秋季举行。
过去日本有这样的说法：待嫁的女人就像是圣诞蛋糕，过了“25”就不新鲜了。
但是，纪宫公主加入了选择晚婚的日本女性的大军，这反映了日本社会和职场所发生的变化，也引起了决策者们对人口出生率不断下降的担忧。
日本的人口普查数据显示，在2000年大约有54%的日本女性在快三十岁时还没结婚，而20年前这一数字只有24%。
婚后，夫妇们也选择不生或少生小孩，2003年，日本女性在一生中平均只生育1.29个小孩，这个数字是有史以来最低的。
在纪宫公主所属的年龄段（35到39岁）中，2000年有13.8%的日本妇女是单身，而1980年只有将近4.4%。
“然而在日本，没有人因为纪宫公主拖到35岁才结婚而对她有看法。这只不过是当代日本社会的折射而已。”东京女学馆大学的加藤春恵子教授说。
分析家们表示，这些变化主要归功于日本政府1985年制定的《平等雇佣机会法》，这一法案为妇女争取到了更多的工作机会，于是越来越多的女性加入上班族，获得了经济独立。
但是，由于日本男人很少愿意干家务活，又缺少日托服务，很多日本女性发现要平衡工作、家庭和孩子之间的关系太吃力了。
《读卖新闻》最近的调查显示，每10个单身女人中有7人更愿意保持未婚状态。
本名叫清子的纪宫公主（婚后）必须脱离皇室，永远离开那座位于东京中心的安静宫殿，对此她表示有些担忧。
但是和其他这个年龄的女人一样，纪宫坚持要继续她在东京以东的鸟类学会的兼职工作。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-03-22 10:13