Japanese women no longer sad to be single

No matter how independent, fashionable or popular she may be, Japan's unwed woman has long been the eternal loser -- lonesome during the holidays, dreaming of the child she never had, dreading the inevitable question at family gatherings: "Aren't you married yet?"

But in unprecedented numbers, Japanese women are answering that question with a firm "No" -- and trying to console other women about how to deal with their plight.

"Women these days aren't going to marry just anybody," declared Junko Sakai, whose recent book Howl of the Loser Dogs sold more than 300,000 copies by telling Japan's single women how to survive the backlash of staying single.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/11/21/2003211971

The title alone provides volumes of insight into culture over there. Intriguing.

glad to see that Japanese women are learning how to define themselves and live self-determined lives.

I have been having more and more conversations with my single "of marriageable age" friends lately and many of us are deciding that we are a lot happier and better off single than being in a miserable marriage or stuck in a dead end relationship. Many of us have also decided we don't want children either. This tendency seems to increase with age, where those of us at the upper end of the age bracket feel happy to have escaped the pressure in our 20's and those in the early 30's having serious doubts.

I am not sure why, but I think a lot of it has to do with the stress of daily life in this modern world and many of us see a husband and children as just adding a heavier burden.