Marriage Hunting – Japanese Slang and Society
Posted on 24. May, 2009 @ 12:51 pm by harvey in Culture, Society
That says “konkatsu”. This word isn’t in your dictionary, but if you’ve been studying Kanji for quite some time and know a bit about Japanese society you can probably guess what it means. By the way, “konkatsu” was nominated for the 2008 流行語大賞, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I’ll explain this “konkatsu” slang phrase while sharing some information about modern Japanese society and teaching you the joy of Kanji.
If you’ve ever looked for a job in Japan or been around Japanese people doing the same, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “syusyoku katsudou”. This phrase means “job hunting”. More literally, it’s the activities that one engages in to find employment.
This “syusyoku katsudou” phrase is often shortened to simply, “syukatsu” (就活).
Now, to get back to this mysterious “konkatsu phrase.” This isn’t an official word or phrase, but it is popular in Japan at the moment (seems to have been around since late 2008). Especially with the “around 30” female crowd.
You can image that the following phrase would exist (it does, but it is also slang).
From what we know of the kanji in “syusyoku katsudou” this would be the activities that one engages in to get married. Or, to be more direct, to find a partner for marriage.
Now we shorten that, as Japanese love to do… and we get…
There it is! “konkatsu!” Another important related phrase is “konkatsucyuu” 婚活中 which refers to someone who is in the process of “konkatsu.”
Of course, 婚活 doesn’t only apply to women, but to men as well.
So let’s take a look at some “konkatsu” stuff in the wild.
This video explains that the “konkatsu” phrase came about because of the increasing number of young people who cannot get married. Note, these are not people who don’t want to get married, they’re people who want to get married but just can’t successfully seal the deal!
The main reasons for this, according to the video, are the high number of financially unstable young people, and a perception difference of what marriage should be all about among Japanese men and women.
A survey done with 135 single women between the ages of 25 and 35 revealed that almost 40% of them wanted to marry a guy with a salary of 6,000,000 yen a year (about 60,000 USD at 100 yen to 1 USD… which isn’t the case anymore, but I’m lazy). The reality is that only 3.5% of young men actually have salaries that exceed that amount! Come on ladies! Your standards are too high!
Also, many women want to become full-time housewives after tying the knot, but with the tough economy more and more men want their wives to work.
“Konkatsu”, the act of actively looking for a marriage partner, includes a variety of activities including…
Taking active steps to improve yourself (積極的な自分磨き)
- Like learning to walk and sit in a chair in an attractive way.
Meeting people (出会い)
- Like at a wine drinking club (after all, people who like wine seem rich).
- There is a singles bar in Roppongi where you go alone and ask the staff to invite someone you notice in the bar to come drink with you. You know, if you don’t have the guts to talk to them yourself.
- There is also a place that specializes in hooking バツイチ (people who have been divorced once) up together.
Wow. That video explains a lot!
Here we have a video of the “konkatsu bra.” Features include a konkatsu count down timer. An apron on the front to show that the lady can cook (important for marriage). A handkerchief with the important profile information of that lady, you know, blood type, age, stuff like that. A place to keep a pen so you can jot your info down at any time… and other things.
There you have it. More “konkatsu” that you’ll ever need. Anyone here “konkatsucyuu” 婚活中? Maybe we can set up a JapanNewbie 婚活クラブ。
- Harvey
18 Responses to “Marriage Hunting – Japanese Slang and Society”
Leave a Reply
Welcome to JapanNewbie.com! My goal is to get you excited about Japan and the Japanese language. Love it! This blog has been around for more than five years now, so be sure to dig into the archives and use the search. You never know what you might find!
Recent Comments:
- Ultra Low Rise Denim Bikini Pants (26)
- astridestler: Really? I accidentally happened upon the discovery that these existed by googleing images of clothes for inspiration to include in my...
- Cosplay in Kunming China (7)
- Japan Australia: Looks like an interesting event and well worth checking out if nothing else but out of interest.
- daniel mardjuadi: yea…the arale cap is so cute ^^
- 何赛: I love the Arale cap too!!!
- sanseed: You should come ,I promise it wiil be worth it.
Ken
May 24th, 2009
at 14:38
What do we learn of it?
Get a high salary and go to Japan hunting a wife :)
Also, many women want to become full-time housewives after tying the knot, but with the tough economy more and more men want their wives to work.
That’s interesting, they think exact the opposite than here in Europe, where those working wifes are the reason for the lack of children.
harvey
May 24th, 2009
at 14:56
Good point Ken, Japan also has a “lack of children” problem, and working women is a factor.
I guess new husbands aren’t thinking about having lots of kids. Which makes since given the tough economic situation!
Drew
May 24th, 2009
at 18:08
Hi, just thought i’d let you know your missing a 0 on your 600,000 yen.
harvey
May 24th, 2009
at 19:06
Thanks Drew! Fixed!
Mike
May 24th, 2009
at 19:27
No way! Did you by chance find this in my favourites on Youtube? I was saving it for a later post ^^;. Must be more careful next time, or quicker off the mark :p
harvey
May 24th, 2009
at 19:50
Hah! Nope! I was just emailing a friend in Japan and she was complaining about her troubles getting married, and the term KONKATSU came up. So I decided to do the post and googled konkatsu and found that youtube video.
Small internet!
satan
May 24th, 2009
at 19:58
why must some people INSIST on spreading improper readings for しゃ、しゅ、しょ…its not sya, syu, syo its SHA, SHU and SHO. spelling it like that makes people pronounce it like that, which in turn makes your pronunciation sound like shit, which in turn just reinforces the fact with japanese people that we foreigners cant speak japanese properly. if you say SYA, SYU or SYO you sound chinese. therefore, syusyoku is wrong. SHUSHOKU.
next time you write an article, get an editor. ;(
James
May 24th, 2009
at 20:08
Hadn’t heard of “konkatsu” yet, but something I’ve come across several times now are “omiai parties”, or “marriage matchmaking parties” run by matchmaking services.
These are like any other matchmaking event, but the goal is not dating but marriage.
Often these are held by the same companies which operate wedding chapels in the area, and participants sign a contract legally binding them to have the organizing company produce the wedding should they find a marriage partner.
Mike
May 24th, 2009
at 20:08
Actually Satan, you’re wrong.
You can read しゃ、しゅ、しょ as sha, shu, sho or sya, syu, syo – they are merely based on different systems of romanisation: Hepburn system vs. Kunreishiki-romaji.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunrei-shiki_romanization
harvey
May 24th, 2009
at 20:12
Hello satan,
Actually I prefer the sha shu sho romanizaton too, but about a year ago someone said the exact opposite of what you are saying now.
There are various “correct” ways to do romaji.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaji#Modern_systems
Seems that the sya syu syo form is one of the other variants. You can read up on it on the Wiki under the heading, “The following variant romanizations are common:” It says, “Jya for じゃ, which is ja in Hepburn and zya in Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki, and similarly jyu for じゅ and jyo for じょ. The extraneous y seems to be the result of confusion between the romanization systems.”
Personally, I don’t care who uses what romanizaton because I can translate them all back into Japanese in my head.
I think most JapanNewbie readers will be alright!
- Harvey
harvey
May 24th, 2009
at 20:15
And what Mike said! Thanks Mike :-)
Tomo
May 24th, 2009
at 21:15
I like that you translated konkatsu as “marriage hunting” in analogy with “job huting”. It sounds right to me as a native speaker even though the “katsu” part doesn’t exactly mean “hunting”.
As for the Roma-ji system, the kunrei-shiki (si, sya) is more intuitive and logical to us Japanese because in our brain, the sound spelled as “sha” in Hepburn is a combination of the consonant s and semi-vowel ya. (I’m much more used to the English-biased Hepburn spellings though!)
Bobby
May 24th, 2009
at 22:51
I’m a fan of the sya, syu, syo style of romanization, personally. It’s more closely related to the Japanese writing, and has been pointed out in numerous places already, relying on romanization to indicate pronunciation is a mistake. Some Japanese sounds simply do not exist in English, so it’s an approximation at best.
I do think this post is the first time I’ve ever seen ちゅ romanized as “cyu” though.
Mark
May 25th, 2009
at 03:11
Really nice post Harvey. It’s disappointing to hear that quite a lot of Japanese women are interested in a man’s money rather than personality and how good a family they might create together. Seems a shame and, as was hinted to, is no doubt one of the reasons the Japanese birth rate is so very low. Also I guess the average age of marriage these days might be increasing?
I’m glad to see you blogging a lot more lately!
yonasu
May 30th, 2009
at 05:42
By the time you reach her bra you hopefully already know her profile information :P
Well I think it makes sense that women look for a man with a good salary, as it gives you a great amount of security. If I was a girl I’d probably do the same thing.
バキア
Jun 11th, 2009
at 07:47
can someone help me with this question..
日本では婚活を積極的に応援する働きが広がっている。自治体の具体的な取り組みについて調べなさい という質問である。お願いいたします。
DICooper
Jul 7th, 2009
at 15:34
I sure wish that you would just spill the beans instead of keeping folks in suspense in these articles.
Why not give the definition outright instead of leaving people that don’t study Japanese to guess?
Harvey
Jul 8th, 2009
at 01:27
Because DICooper, it’s the guessing and brain churning that makes people learn and remember.