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Modernization And Divorce In Japan, Motonobu Mukai

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Divorce rates in Japan have increased since the mid-1960s, and even more rapidly since the 1990s. Divorce rates decreased throughout the period of industrialization, although modernization theory has argued that economic development brings pervasive cultural changes (including higher divorce rates). However, values regarding family are also influenced by the persistence of traditional values. Before WWII in Japan, a decreasing divorce rate was influenced by political ideology, which deliberately intended to change traditional ways of marriage and divorce. After WWII, however, this ideology diminished, and material affluence has led to an individualistic view that in turn has led to higher divorce …