Bankonka (晩婚化) in Perspective of Japanese Society

Abstract

Nowadays, there are many of Japanese people tend to postpone marriage for
various reason. The phenomenon of delaying marriage is referred as Bankonka .The
delay in marriage is a result of social change in the Japanese Society. This social
change is not always progressive, but there is a setback. This study aims to describe
the phenomena and factors that cause Bankonka occur in Japanese society.
Changes related to human life are called social changes that can involve social
values, patterns and behavior, and social interactions and so on. Social institutions
within a society hat affects its social system, including values, attitudes, and behavior
patterns among groups in society (Soekanto, 2006:304).
This type of research is qualitative and so carried out descriptively. The object
of this research is Bankonka. Data collection techniques used in this thesis is library
research and questionnaires conducted by means of : (a) classify data according to
research, (b) analyze data that has been grouped descriptively, (c) conclude data that
has been analyzed.
Based on the results of data analysis and discussion, it was found that at first
marriage was sacred thing for Japanese society. But as time change, many of the
Japanese people consider marriage to only make themselves bound, so that they limit
their freedom to do many things. The cause of Bankonka is a change in the view of
Japanese society towards marriage. This led to a tendency in Japanese society to
delay marriage. In the study, found four factors for the occurrence of Bankonka, to
wit : (1) factor of concern, (2) economic factor, (3) lifestyle factor, (4) other factor.
The biggest factor that causes Bankonka is the freedom of lifestyle in Japanese
society.
Keyword : Marriage, Bankonka, Japanese Society