Australian: Japanese women tire of their men
IT was Japan's gay community - keen observers and labellers of social subclasses - that first came up with the word gaisen (外専). A slightly acerbic term used to describe Japanese women who prefer Western men, gaisen, or a subtler alternative, is likely to enter the broader vocabulary sometime soon, if it hasn't already. Statistics show that more and more Japanese women are turning their backs on Japanese men and marrying Australian, American, European or British men. Mixed marriages in Japan, one of the most racially homogenous countries in the world, are on the rise. The overall numbers are still small, but dating or marrying a Westerner has gained acceptance, if not a certain cachet or coolness in some social classes. Osaka University sociologist Beverley Yamamoto, who studies this issue, says mass media and advertising are encouraging Japanese women to seek Western partners by presenting them as cool or desirable...more...
It bears repeating, since it isn't mentioned at all in this lightly-researched article, that the rise in international marriages is mainly down to Japanese men marrying women from other Asian countries.
