三分之一的日本男子注定要终身单身 [日本媒体]

One-thirdof men destined to be lifelong singles

三分之一的日本男子注定要终身单身



TOKYO —“Mr Fukuyama” is 43, reasonablywell-off and single. It’s not that he doesn’t want to marry — he can’t, orat least hasn’t been able to so far. Why not, since he’s employed full-time andearning ￥5 million a year? Because he’s in a situation common to more and moremiddle-aged single men — he has a parent dependent on him for care.Prospective marriage partners see that and run.

东京——福山先生今年43岁，单身的富有人事。他并非不想结婚，而是不能，至少目前还不能。为什么呢，因为他全职而且每年赚500万日元？因为他的情况和目前越来越多的中年男性一样——他有长辈（爸或妈）需要他照顾。潜在的结婚对象看到他家的长辈都吓跑了。

Fukuyama’s parents divorced late in lifeand Fukuyama, then in his 30s, set up housekeeping with his father. Girlfriendscame and went. By the time he felt ready to marry, his father had begun todecline. Marriage, whether you’re young or not-so-young, means embarking on anew life. An aged and infirm parent casts a long shadow.

他的父母比较晚的时候离婚，30多岁时他和父亲建立家政公司。女朋友来来走走。等他准备结婚时，他父亲的身体开始虚弱。不管你是年轻还是不那么年轻，婚姻都意味着过开始一段新的生活。而一个年老体弱的父辈的存在给婚姻投下了长长的阴影。

Marriage is not what it used to be. What itused to be is nearly universal. There always were, and always will be,individuals determined to go their own way, or temperamentally unmatchable— but marriage until very recently was almost as inevitable as growing up.How far Japan has traveled from that presumption is indicated by a 2010 healthand labor ministry survey classifying 20.1 percent of men, and 10.6 percent ofwomen, as “lifetime singles.” By 2020, the figure for men is expected to be 29percent — nearly one in three.

婚姻已经今时不同往日。以前婚姻是普遍存在的。不管是以前还是将来，总会有人决定一直单身下去，或者说他们永远找不到对得上的人——但是婚姻直到最近还和成长一样不可避免。日本在这条路上走了多远可以从卫生劳动省的2010年调查中看出来，其中有20.1%的男士和10.6%的女士被归类为“终身单身人士”。到2020年，男性的这一数据将达到29%，也就是说将近三分之一。



YubaruJUL. 03, 2016 - 07:10AM JST
Another kuchikomi article to stir up theanti-this or that crowd.....I'll pass on this, it's a personal choice issue myopinions do not matter.

又是一篇反对这个或者那个的文章。。。我不评论，这是个人选择，我的观点不重要。

MoonrakerJUL. 03, 2016 - 07:48AM JST
Fukuyama's case is rather emblematic ofsociety as a whole. The old have replaced children as the dependents ofpriority. This is a positive feedback cycle and can only get worse.

福山先生的案例很能代表整个社会。老人已经代替小孩成为了优先家属。这是个正反馈循环，只会变得更糟。。。

gaijinfoJUL. 03, 2016 - 08:56AM JST
Society's as a whole, are experiencing theWORST of both worlds, and this article is a fine example.
BEFORE governments started their crazypension ponzi schemes, it was expected that kids would eventually take care oftheir parents. Everybody did. Because governments were so much smaller, theirimpact on the economy was negligible. Having a large family WAS your retirementplan.
Then governments came along and started totax the crap out of everybody. Which worked fine when the economy was expandingAND there enough tax payers to support the pensioners (tax receivers).
Now the demographics are upside down. Notonly can the government NOT AFFORD to pay pensioners an adequate wage, adultchildren of pensioners can't support their parents either without significantfinancial hardship.
This will continue to get worse as Japan'seconomy gets worse along with her demographics.

整个社会正面临最糟糕的情况，这篇文章就是个绝好的例子。
在政府开始其疯狂的养老金庞氏计划前，人们都依赖养孩子来养老。大家都是这么做的。因为那时政府规模那么小，他们对经济的影响微不足道。建立一个大家庭就是你的退休计划。
后来政府开始大肆征税。如果经济在扩张那倒没事，纳税人可以缴纳足够的税收来支持老年退休者。
而现在人口结构开始颠倒。不仅政府无法给老年人足够的退休金，年轻人在赡养老年人方面也面临巨大压力。
随着日本人口继续减少经济继续衰退，情况只会变得更加糟糕。

zurcroniumJUL. 03, 2016 - 09:43AM JST
gaijinfo,
The time you are talking about was whenJapanese worked mostly on farms. Is that what you think is appropriate now?
You libertarian types live in a fantasyworld where people perform surgery on themselves and roads repair themselves.Where firemen come after the fire burns itself out. It is a nice piece offiction that most grow out of in their teens. The world just simply does notwork that way for reasons too numerous, and in most cases also too obvious, toexplain.
Japan is a rich country that can easilyafford to pay for it's elderly to live decent lives. Instead we have bridges tonowhere and huge corporate subsidies. Ask yourself why that is. If you cannotfigure it out try looking in a mirror. All you Ayn Rand types are simplestooges for corporate interests that want to steal as much as they can fromsociety without any oversight.

楼上，你说的那个时间点日本人都在田里干活，你觉得那还适应如今的社会吗？
你们这些自由论者生活在梦想的世界里，人们给自己动手术，道路自己自动修理，消防员还没到大火就自己灭了。可是现实世界不是这样。
日本是个富有国家，有能力让自己的老年人过上体面生活。相反，我们的桥梁哪也去不了，还有巨大的企业补助金。你们这些人都是小政府主义者，是企业利益的傀儡，就想着从社会中窃取尽可能多的东西。

cla68JUL. 03, 2016 - 09:57AM JST
I agree with gaijininfo.

我同意楼上上的说法。

JimizoJUL. 03, 2016 - 10:02AM JST
My single coworker packed in his job a fewyears ago and went to Africa to help with construction projects. He loves itand feels he's doing something worthwhile with his life. I often think aboutthe freedom I lost when I think of him despite the fact I'm in a happyrelationship.
What a dysfunctional weirdo. He should bevisiting his in-laws or going to Disneyland.
Marriage is on its way out anyway. It won'tbe a great loss when it finally lands on the scrapheap.

我的一个单身同事几年前辞职前往非洲帮忙建设工程。他很喜欢觉得自己做了有意义的事情。每当想起他的时候我都会思考自己所失去的自由，尽管我现在和女朋友的关系很好。
真是个不正常的怪人。他应该拜访他的亲家或者去迪士尼乐园玩。
无论如何，婚姻即将过时。当婚姻变得一文不名时就没什么好损失的了。

borschtJUL. 03, 2016 - 10:15AM JST
Fukuyama dated the wrong women who saw onlyhis old father, their chores related to the father, and ignored completelyanything about Fukuyama himself. Was he nice? Cheerful? Organized enough totake care of his father and work full time?
If the women he dated were that selfish, nofirst-born son in Japan will ever be able to get married.

福山先生交错女朋友了，这些女的只看到他年老的父亲，以及以后需要帮忙照顾，但是忽视了福山本人。他人好吗？开朗吗？能在照顾父亲的同时又保有一份全职工作吗？
如果他约会的妇女都那么自私，那么日本的长子都不可能结婚了。

Jack and the BeanstalkJUL. 03, 2016 -11:19AM JST
I really HATE articles that begin with ananecdote about one person meant to be representative of literally millions. Itsa red flag for crap really.

我真的很讨厌文章一开始就说某人一定要赚多少多少钱。这真的是个危险信号。

Wc626JUL. 03, 2016 - 11:56AM JST
Because he’s in a situation common to moreand more middle-aged single men — he has a parent dependent on him for care.Prospective marriage partners see that and run.
The problem is not that Mr. Fukuyama hashis father to look after. The problem is that his prospective wife would beinstantly cursed with burden of looking after him. Women here are justculturally expected to do those sorts of things.
No wonder 1/3 of men cannot marry. Culturalexpectations are way too high. Everything so high maintenance.

由于他的情况是现在越来越多中年人所共有的——有一个父辈需要他照顾。所以潜在对象看到后都吓跑了。
问题不在于福山先生有一个需要照顾的爸爸。问题在于结婚后妻子就得承担起照顾父亲的责任。因为传统来说这些事情就是妇女来做的。
难怪三分之一的男人结不了婚。文化期望太高了。所有事情都是那么的难伺候。