Japanese women dream of the USA
DIMSDRIVE performed internet-based research involving 5,274 people in September of last year to find out which country’s citizens would people most want to marry. It is not stated whether or not the people interviewed were single or not.
The Asia versus the West split is quite noticeable in the men, but really striking amongst the women. I previously translated statistics regarding international marriages in Japan that shows that the ideals being expressed here do not seem to be realised.
On a slight tangent, I watched the last episode of an NHK English learning program which features an English-speaking Western blonde angel that prods a clueless office worker along the path to success at her job getting a date with her transferred from New York colleague, the ideal tall, muscular, tanned, well-coiffured white executive. The angel’s job was done because the glaikit Misaki finally pulled her man.
Q: Other than Japanese, which country’s people do you think would be good to have as a partner (husband or wife)? (Sample size=5,274, free answer)
Rank Votes 1 USA 1,144 2 Korea 505 3 UK 442 4 Italy 370 5 France 344 6 Australia 218 7 Germany 203 8 China 197 9 Canada 150 10 Russia 120 Q: Other than Japanese, which country’s people do you think would be good to have as a partner (husband or wife)? (By sex, free answer)
Rank MaleN=2,468 Votes Rank FemaleN=2,806 Votes 1 USA 368 1 USA 776 2 Korea 297 2 UK 347 3 China 174 3 Italy 278 4 France 134 4 France 210 5 Russia 117 5 Korea 208 6 Thailand 99 6 Australia 145 7 UK 95 7 Germany 131 8 Italy 92 8 Canada 99 9= Taiwan 73 9 Switzerland 47 9= Australia 73 10 Spain 34 First, looking at the East-West split - or more accurately, perhaps, the caucasian-Asian split (I’m not aware of any black Western role-models in Japan) we see that for men, 36% of the total votes were for Western wives versus 26% for Asian women, favouring the West (I’m including Russia, with Maria Sharapova as the popular image of the country) by just over a third. However for women there is a marked difference; about 74% in total choose the West (over 40% for the USA alone) versus a mere 7.4% for the East, a massive ten to one vote for Europe and the USA.
Next, looking at the detailed age breakdown, it’s only in the teenage girls group that the USA fails to top the charts, losing out to France and Korea, and equal with the UK. For men in their twenties, American women are preferred over the second-placed Korean women by almost 60%, and the Chinese are back in fifth, gaining just over a third of the number of votes of the USA. However, the older men get, the stronger the charms of the Asian neighbours become, with the gap at its smallest being just a mere three votes. Similarly, for men in their forties and over, Chinese women cut the gap from a third to about a half of the USA score.
For women, as they get older (ignoring the over sixty bracket which has a very small sample size, so may be rather inaccurate) the attraction to American men only get stronger; in their twenties, Americans get just under a quarter of the vote, but by their fifties, it surpasses three in ten. Despite the charms of the disturbingly Harry Potter-like Bae Yong Joon Korean men do not seem to be particularly favoured by the middle-aged demographic.
These two main trends noted above are perhaps reflections on Japanese society as much as on foreign stereotypes. The younger men hold images of themselves as charming the sophisticated Western woman, but as they age (and visit dodgy hostess bars…) they come to realise that perhaps only Asian women could accept their typical Japanese behaviour. For women, after having been around Japanese men for many, many years, they too may come to realise that the Western stereotypes of politeness and chivalry are the only things that could satisty them in marriage.
Bonus points if you can name the people pictured…
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heather said,
January 8, 2006 @ 00:54
very interesting! so i (western female) have a better chance with younger japanese men than older ones?
oh wait, i HAVE a boyfriend. forget i said anything!
the statistics are interesting, but also misleading, don’t you think? since it says that ‘as they age’ their opinions change. i would say it might be more to do with shifts in culture over time?
i noticed in ireland, there is a growing dislike for US citizens amongst young people, for example. whereas, with older people or 30+ they grew up immersed in US culture, and many people still have a strong affection for it.
i could be wrong to make similiar parallels with japan.
what do you think?
Seron (Ken) said,
January 9, 2006 @ 23:49
Yes, you are probably correct there, I have worded the translation in a way that may be confusing if you look at the statistics as just a snapshot in time, but I would also suggest that there is perhaps a trend within Japan for views to change with age, as I outline in the last paragraph of the post.
I’ll see if I can come up with a better wording for the description of the trends, but I’ll leave my conclusions as is.
Jacqueline said,
March 23, 2006 @ 12:46
“I’ll see if I can come up with a better wording for the description of the trends….”
Yes, better wording would be a good idea, especially in your last paragraph. One detects a certain snideness towards Japanese men.
Kitten pictures, but not off topic » 世論 What Japan Thinks said,
March 24, 2006 @ 23:15
[…] Looking at the detailed breakdown, the American Short Hair was the most popular for all bar the over sixties women (indeed, the same women also want to keep a pet American man), and tops for men in their twenties and thirties. Other interesting kinds of cats featuring in the ratings were black cats gathering a few votes from those in their twenties, and both Somali and Himalayan cats, breeds I’ve never heard of before, getting a few followers here and there. japan, ranking, cat, russian blue, american short hair [link] […]
Houb said,
April 6, 2006 @ 20:45
Japanese women loves USA because they think that it’s the place where they dreams will come true. But when they go there, some of them understand that America is the country where to build up your own dream, you must destroy someone else dream.
Lisa_2006 said,
May 26, 2006 @ 07:17
Hi there,your particular survey on Japanese culture & their love for USA is really interesting!I think this is fairly true in America,where I meet alot of Japanese women that are married to American men!!!But I can see a bit of bais in this survey!I’m aware that this is a American website & it probably is done by an American reporter,so alot of the survey & reviews can be based on the Americans’ perspectives on Japanese culture,which is really shallow & can be seen on the surface!!!I’m from Taiwan,which is a country that young teenageteenagers teenagers have a extreme craze for Japanese culture & fashion!I think it’s because of the 50
yrs of colonization the Japanese has on Taiwan!Most people & friends I know from Taiwan,are
extremely crazy for Japanese men,culture & fashion,and maybe a little of KOrean culture as
well!They don’t give a damn about American or British culture & men at all,which is the same
thing when I talked with many friends of mine here in Japan,that their more into their own
culture & Japanese men than cassausin!!!MOst of them hold traditional Japanese values that
marrying someone other than their own race is considering a condamention & corruption towards
their race!!!Most refered to westerners & foreigners!!!So,I think this survey is really bais,
based on who reports the survey,the responses & focus would be really different!!!
I wouldn’t know how you explain that?!
Lisa said,
May 26, 2006 @ 07:20
These imformation are very bais & subjective!!!
John Wayne said,
June 7, 2006 @ 11:16
^^^^Huh?^^^
Bryant Greene said,
June 7, 2006 @ 15:33
Are there any statistics on Japanese women who would marry an African
American male?
Martin said,
June 15, 2006 @ 09:19
These statistics really reflect the extremely annoying tendancy for japanese to consider “western == USA”. When in Japan I’ve often been asked if I’m american (not “where are you from” but directly to “are you american”), which I, beeing european (swedish to be precise), find higly offensive and rude. To me it feels like being called an obese, ugly, stupid, McDonalds-bred, gun-touting, violent, loud, rude, monolinguistic, undemocratic, christian fanatic/terrorist due to the european stereotype of americans which I dare say fits reallity a lot better than the japanese dito.
Shenard said,
June 15, 2006 @ 15:19
Japanese Interracial Marriage statistics.
Japanese men marry:
Chinese 10,242
Filipinos 7,794
Koreans 5,318
Americans 156
British 65
Japanese women marry:
Koreans 2,235
Americans 1,529
Chinese 890
British 334
Filipinos 117
Source: 2003 Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare
Since 2003, the stats for Koreans/Japanese Women have increased while Americans/Japanese Women decreased. This could be due to the Korean Entertainment explosion in Asia & Japan.
Rodney said,
June 15, 2006 @ 15:28
Also marriage statistics in 2003:
Marriages involving Japanese women
In 2003 amounted to 712,310, the percentage of Japanese women marrying foreign men amounts to only 1.1% of the total, and the percentage marrying
Americans is at most 0.2%. So actual marriage stats vary from an unscientific poll.
a random american said,
June 18, 2006 @ 07:06
Forgive this rant everyone….this will probably be the only time I will ever post here again.
To Houb,
>>America is the country where to build up your own dream, you must destroy someone else dream.
Are you an American? I doubt that you are, as your statement is absolutely ridiculous.
I built my “dream” by paying my own way through college for 4 years and working everyday since I was 15 years old and I don’t recall destroying anything. How did you build yours friend? I would love to hear the theory behind this “opinion” of yours.
To Martin,
>>To me it feels like being called an obese, ugly, stupid, McDonalds-bred, gun-touting, violent, loud, rude, monolinguistic, undemocratic, christian fanatic/terrorist
Yeah, because that’s the profile that fits ALL Americans……
You sir are nothing more than disgusting racist.
Your remarks clearly show that you are an uneducated fool.
Also, do me a favor, could you please add a few more stereotypes next time when insulting me? I don’t think you used enough to make your point. Your statement stands as true as if I were to say all
Swedish people are creepy, diaper-fetish, porn freak Nazis. Is that statement true?
Of course not. But if everyone on Earth had your mentality it would be OK to say that when talking about someone just for the sake of speaking pure hatred. I have been to both Lund and Stockholm and I enjoyed it very much (Tivoli Gardens was great) and even if I saw people who I considered unattractive or “ugly” as you so delicately put it - I would not go on record a say those people represented the entire culture.
So, both of you go have a nice life spewing your hate and garbage to yourself in your
lonely, pathetic minds - because in reality you are living in self-loathing jealousy,
struggling with your own shortcomings and insercurities.
I have got news for you Mr. Marten High & Mighty - The so-called “superior” or “perfect” race does not exist, or at least it won’t exist until these type of prejudice walls are broken down.
I have been coming to this site for a while now and I have never posted, but it’s almost unbelievable that the results of this poll like this would trigger resentment. Women and men should be able to marry each other no matter what nationality, race, “skin color”, or whatever naturalization-type word you want to use to further seperate the human species. They should not be made to feel as if they have done something wrong or singled out, what business is it of anyones? It is a matter of personal choice. Just because we are seperated by water or we live on different islands on this tiny stone called Earth does not mean we are so different from one another, nor better…. Call me judgemental, but anyone who has a negative thought based on these results are a bigots and fascists.
l.p.
Bryan Aldridge said,
June 19, 2006 @ 10:10
“The younger men hold images of themselves as charming the sophisticated Western woman, but as they age (and visit dodgy hostess bars…) they come to realise that perhaps only Asian women could accept their typical Japanese behaviour.”
I’m not sure if I agree with that interpretation. My version is as follows:
I think as they get older, they begin to prefer younger looking girls - ability to retain youthfulness for a long time begins to matter more. Whereas when you are young yourself, you tend to want to own what the society deems as a stereotypical beauty or an object-like beauty, if you will.
Far eastern asian women certainly do look young in general, something men begin to appreciate as they get older. This change is perception doesn’t seem to occur when you are very young yourself.
As for the “USA preference” issue, I think that’s just the good old positive USA bias Japan has had for decades.
jongrey said,
July 9, 2006 @ 02:29
I agree with Brian Aldridge\’s point. Ken\’s take on it would imply that male majority of a nation is influenced by a preference of a western woman. That may be true for some minority, but to consider that to be the deciding factor for the whole nation is unacademic at best, \”eurocentric mentality\” at worst.
I think the last poster hit the proverbial nail on the head; young boys prefer older women, old men prefer very young women. That transition probably takes place in mid 20s for many people, where western women suddenly begin to age rapidly. I think Asian women\’s ability to retain youthful features begin to gain appreciation when a man begins to mature, which is probably late 20s to 30s.
Melody McFarland said,
July 13, 2006 @ 08:18
In regard to Martin’s statement:
“To me it feels like being called an obese, ugly, stupid, McDonalds-bred, gun-touting, violent, loud, rude, monolinguistic, undemocratic, christian fanatic/terrorist due to the european stereotype of americans”
It’s such a shame your perception of people is so twisted. You’re really missing out on meeting a lot of very interesting people who might enhance your otherwise hateful life.
Admittedly, most Americans are fat slobs and the statistics don’t lie, but the gun-toting, loud, rude bit is ridiculous.
Sincerely, your thin, attractive, atheist, multilingual, research scientist, vegetarian, American friend,
Melody McFarland
RudeEuropeSavingAmericanSlob said,
July 25, 2006 @ 06:59
Hi Martin,
Japanese women are pretty wild, eh? They’re statistically prone to go for these obese, ugly, stupid, McDonalds-bred, gun-touting, violent, loud, rude, monolinguistic, undemocratic, christian fanatic Americans. Go figure! They could have a suave, well-mannered Swede like yourself and yet…rejection. Sucks to be you my friend.
Maybe if you whine and spew enough bile, one of them will throw you some mercy sex and the rest of us will be free of your BS. Oh…wait…or can’t you speak to them in Japanese Mr. Eurostud? I’m betting you can’t. For all the posturing and America-bashing I hear from Europeans, I know way more US citizens who speak fluent Japanese than from all European Union member countries combined. Plus - big bonus - we don’t smell like herring
Cheers,
Your bud
Mutantfrog said,
July 25, 2006 @ 15:48
(I’m not aware of any black Western role-models in Japan)
Bob Sapp isn’t a rolemodel?
Ken said,
July 26, 2006 @ 02:39
Interesting stuff. I can’t seem to find the trackback though…am I just blind?
Ed Hagedorn said,
July 26, 2006 @ 23:14
God bless the usa home of the brave and free: english french german irish sweedish spanish and every other nationality on the planet
you diss yourselves in a since when you trash america people.
rolly said,
August 5, 2006 @ 06:17
i have love to have a wife from japan as i had love to
live my live in american,That’s where my dream to write song is,
My e-mail address ios rollykeny@hotmail.com,Am from africa senegal the tourist town,
please if you are single living japan hala at me,
rolly
HanshinT said,
August 11, 2006 @ 10:46
Has anyone tried the ‘bonus point’ on offer?
Lets try… from top left and going clockwise…
1- Farrah Fawcett (US)
2- Yunsona (Korea).
3- Zhang ZhiYi (China).
4- Bardot? Sharapova? Generic Euro-supermodel?
5- Some old dear… possibly Russian (Sharapova in 70 years?)
6- Korean leader from the ‘Team America: World Police’ super-marionation movie.
7- Pepe LePew (nominal French)
8- Okachi (Japan) from comedy group NinetyNine dressed as a Super Mario Brother
9- Wayne Rooney (England footballer and ‘gurner’).
10- The fat kid from the ‘FatBoy Slim’ video.
Close?
Ken Y-N said,
August 12, 2006 @ 23:27
HanshinT - 4 is indeed Bardot. I didn’t realise that number 8 was from NinetyNine! 5 is indeed some random Russian hag.
alexinusa said,
August 27, 2006 @ 11:52
i live in usa. fat people really disgust me. ive worked throughout europe and can say in most countries excluding a few theres alot less fat people. which is a plus. but god are europeans ugly. you would think americans would be similar in looks to europeans since americans are from there originally. but i was shocked how many ugly people there are in europe. really disgusting. alot more good looking people in USA for sure. wonder why this is?
Joseph said,
August 30, 2006 @ 03:52
I agree with the random american, being one myself. That’s got to be some of the most hateful rubbish I’ve ever read. A real pity.
Alexinusa >>> Go to Bratislava! XD Some extraordinarily beautiful women there, that’s for certain!!
I’ve been all over the continental US, Japan, and most of Western Europe (lived in Germany for 3 years). Not to mention various other countries round the world. XD
I’m 23, btw! If that puts me opinions in perspective any.