International marriages in Japan have a higher divorce rate than domestic marriages. Cultural and language differences cause communication and understanding problems between spouses from different backgrounds.
It’s also been found that Japanese women and foreign men get married a lot in Japan, and these marriages are more likely to end in divorce.
Aside from child abduction, there is also an issue related to international marriages and a cultural gap that needs to be addressed. These underlying issues will be discussed in this issue.
International Marriage in Japan
International marriages in Japan have a higher divorce rate than domestic marriages. Cultural and language differences cause communication and understanding problems between spouses from different backgrounds.
It’s also been found that Japanese women and foreign men get married a lot in Japan, and these marriages are more likely to end in divorce. Japanese women married to foreign men often have different expectations of gender roles and family structures than their partners, which can lead to conflict.
Couples with language barriers may need help communicating effectively, causing misunderstandings and resentment. Cultural differences in values and expectations about marriage, family, and gender roles can also strain relationships.
In Japan, however, not all international marriages end in divorce, and many couples have successful, fulfilling relationships despite these difficulties. Any successful marriage, including international ones, requires effective communication, mutual understanding, and a willingness to compromise and adapt.
Dating a Foreigner Just to Learn English
It’s a stereotype that Westerners are taller, with deeply chiseled faces, and intensely express affection. Many Japanese women feel that dating or marrying a Westerner is a status. Furthermore, some women think that having a half-Japanese child is a status.
You don’t have to speak English as long as you are in Japan. Yet, the public believes you must speak English. Some people think dating a foreigner will help them learn English, so they want to date a foreigner.
Once you’re married and have kids, you’ll face problems like culture gaps, language barriers, etc. Compared to marriages between compatriots, your chances of getting divorced increase if you don’t try to fix these problems.
Unfaithful Foreign Males Who Take Advantage of Their Admiration for The West
Many Japanese women want a relationship with a Western foreigner because they admire or want to learn English. Some Western males living in Japan know these circumstances and have relationships with an unspecified number of Japanese females.
Some American males treat non-US females as dependents if they give them a U.S. spouse visa. Marriage often falls apart after the birth of kids if you don’t see the true intentions of dishonest foreigners.
Some American males treat non-US females as dependents if they give them a U.S. spouse visa.
Marriage often falls apart after the birth of kids if you don’t see the true intentions of dishonest foreigners.
Married Life Outside Japan
The chances of divorce from an economic standpoint are low if you meet your spouse in a Western country and married life starts there. Since the spouse’s home country is foreign, it is difficult for the Japanese wife to obtain a stable job. Learning and applying the language locally requires perseverance.
Failure to do so will result in frustration and homesickness.
Most Japanese women feel compelled to return to Japan with their children at any cost if they fail to adjust to the local culture.
Foreign Husbands Who Are Unemployed Or Low-Rank English Teachers
English teachers are a common occupation among Western males in Japan. Unless they have professional educational qualifications, Western men who teach English in Japan do not have a stable financial base.
It is common for women in Japan to meet a Western male who teaches English or works in a low-income profession. It’s hard to continue stable married life if the person is like that.
Since Japanese society still believes husbands should earn the bread and wives should be the homemakers, life can be stressful for Japanese women from the beginning. If married life does not work out after having children, many Japanese women naturally choose to separate from their children.
The Reality of International Divorce
In the case of international marriages, in addition to the significant causes of divorce, such as adultery, violence, and alcohol consumption, there are additional causes of divorce resulting from culture gaps.
Divorce is not seen as a cause for parent-child separation in countries with an established joint custody system. However, Japan is a country with a sole custody system, so there are many cases of parent-child disconnection following divorce.
Thus, many Japanese marriages remain together for the sake of their children; as the saying goes, “Kids can deepen the marital bond.”
Western men do not have such a sense of crisis, so they panic when their Japanese wives separate from them with their children. In Japan, many lawyers handle divorce issues. When a Japanese wife hires a lawyer, she will use various strategies to justify the separation of the children.
Abrupt separations of wives and children, often in Japan, are unforeseeable for Western foreign husbands. Such situations result in their distrust of Japan as a county that tolerates such conditions.
Response to Child Abduction
Separation with a child from outside Japan to within Japan may be considered a criminal act as child abduction outside Japan. If an internationally married couple were living in Japan, they would be treated the same as a Japanese couple. In Japan, it is common for wives to separate from their children without permission, and there is practically no penalty.
However, doing so makes it difficult for the wife’s side to receive support for marital expenses and child support from her husband. From the wife’s side, there is a sense that she is taking that risk and taking the child away in return. Since she took the risk of struggling as a single mother to raise the child, she deserves to keep the child and refuse visitation with the father.
Causes of Divorce
Many husbands suspect their wives’ infidelity when their wive disappear with their children, whether foreigners or Japanese.
In our experience as detective agencies, there are not many cases where infidelity is the cause of the disappearance of a wife and kids. At the same time, there are few cases in which the husband overtly commits domestic violence.
In many cases, minor differences that the husband overlooked may have grown and led to the wife’s separation from the children.
In addition to adultery and domestic violence, other causes of divorce include differences of opinion, insults, malicious abandonment, and abuse (verbal abuse). Such causes may often be a pattern of unawareness on the husband’s part and secret dissatisfaction on the wife’s part. When the marital relationship has deteriorated, and conversation has ceased, the husband’s side tends to miss the signs that the Japanese wife will take the children and separate on her own.
International Child Abduction.
In the tradition of Japanese society, there is little discomfort on the wife’s part in taking the children and separating. However, in many Western countries, laws are in place that facilitate both parents to communicate with their children even after divorce. Because of this cultural gap, international child removal often occurs between non-Western countries and Western countries, including Japan.
Fathers from Western countries whose children are taken by their Japanese wives become emotional and take refuge because their Japanese wives’ removal of their children is kidnapping a minor. In their home country, this is true, but in Japan, there are different laws, and the police are reluctant to investigate a criminal case actively. The abductees treat the issue as an international diplomatic problem and incite the media to report that Japan is a kidnapping state.
Summary
In practice, international child abduction is one aspect of international divorce issues. To prevent such disputes, education about the global culture gap should be provided in each country. Suppose both spouses are educated about the practical problems that arise during international divorce. In that case, they can make favorable decisions from dating to marriage.
