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…
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, or check out my weekly newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
Read more on:
Subscribe to feed
Send to mobile
Subscribe to 世論 What Japan Thinks newsletter
Namiko said,
March 30, 2007 @ 19:14
mmm Delboy…I didn’t see your posts getting positive feedback because you are basically talking to yourself. I think the reason you decided to go on a tangent about how great the UK is and how much better UK blacks are is because you were jealous to see that Japanese women preferred Americans over Brits in this survey (which may or may not be accurate). As for you being anti-American, I am well aware it’s “not only a British thing” yet your country still does everything the U.S. tells you to do, so I understand your bitterness, I suppose, although that would be the fault of your own leadership now wouldn’t it. England isn’t much loved either by many countries but I’m sure you know that. Anyway, I’m not one to put other countries down like yourself…I realise all countries have their strengths and weaknesses and there are good people everywhere so I’m not going to continue this topic.
The one thing I agreed with you on is the the negative effects of hip hop/rap on the world. I do think we need better black rolemodels in America and I wish that rap artists would start singing about positive things instead.
To Hmm, curiouser and curiouser!, I think Eurasian men are often times gorgeous. I am Eurasian myself and I have to say, I came out very well ;).
koji said,
March 31, 2007 @ 01:12
Ana,
Could you verify which types of guys you are talking about? Or just “guys” in general?
koji said,
March 31, 2007 @ 01:41
Hmm, curiouser and curiouser!,
I like all races, and mix are even more exotic to me. haha Too bad I don’t get to see much though. ;(
Lee and Delboy,
I have read some of your posts prior to myself finally posting, and I appreciate both of your POVs. But there’s one thing I noticed about both of your posts. You give too much information which is highly opinonated into each posts. This makes it incredibly easy for you two to counter one another, which is why you two are still at it right now. ^_^ I think if you want to get your points across better, I suggest shorter, stronger paragraph(s) that are hard to counter.
(I’ll enjoy reading them either way.)
But ofcourse, you don’t have to listen to a boy lol
You two are men and will do what you wish. ^-^
Delboy said,
March 31, 2007 @ 03:02
Ha ha jealous. People date people not nationalities and I couldn’t careless whether Japanese people tend to date Americans more. Like I said I’m no flag waving British patriot, but you look at recent empires like the American, English, French and even the Japanese empire, people feel the least bitter about the English empire in the countries that were effected by it. Ask a Native American why USA was good for them? Ask an Algerian what they think of the French? Ask a Korea what good Japan has done for the country and on most occasions they all will have negative answers. The English did a lot of bad things and good things, but on balance they have been positive, which is why the former colonies of the British Empire don’t have anywhere near the bitterness of the other nations. Gibraltar, Falklands and even Hong Kong are and were desperate to stay within British control. Cameroon a former French colony has actually joined the British Commonwealth. The British Commonwealth has nearly as many members as the UN, so if the British are so terrible how comes so many of the former and independent colonies want to stay linked to them?
Tony Blair is the most hated Prime Minister in British History because he going against public opinion and following American orders, but this not the reason why British people have a dislike for America. I think it is down to hypocrites of American the delusion of grandeur that grates with British people that tend to be very understated and downplay there influence on the world. So when you have a President like Bush in a speech to public claiming the USA is the greatest country and democracy in the world and people cheer British people think this? What is the level of intelligent of a country if that man can be elected twice, how people can blindly cheer that statement out of patriotism, especially when considering how he won the first election. Images like that makes British people think America is not the developed society it proclaims to be because it is a relatively young county. Tony Blair can’t even do public speeches because he is so disliked not only by the public, but by his own party he would be heckled. But rightly or wrongly the British has a superiority complex towards Americans, which other nations never had. When people, especially in Europe, saw Bush get elected again, after cheating his way to victory first time around people were amazed that he wasn’t voted out for this, but he was given a bigger majority. I think the youth outside of the UK in Europe began to think how gullible Americans were and started to become uncool to them. In the Ukraine the President tried to do the same thing as Bush, but people protested and got him out of office so people are smart enough in Europe know what is going on in politics and take action. America’s big problem is the weak American media that doesn’t act as a balance on behalf of the American people so they end up more ignorant despite their intelligence.
Yes I know I go on tangents because I’m on here to express my view not to act as an agony aunt to people’s responses. To me a positive feedback is when my posts prompt someone to think about what I said and respond. There have been more responses to my post on here than any other person so I see that as positive because I am provoking debate. You say I haven’t been getting much people agreeing with me, but if it wasn’t for the prolific Lee, yourself and one other pretty much the rest of the post have been quite positive.
If your Eurasian then good for you, the more people mix the more understand we all have of each other. Pretty much mixed people tend to be very good looking. Amerie, Keano Reeves, Halle Berry and the Rock are just few. I’ve notice some of my American friends love London ladies because so many of them are mixed.
Hey Joji
I’m thinking about going to tokyo for in November where are the good places to go to?
Ana said,
March 31, 2007 @ 03:17
Japanese
Lee said,
March 31, 2007 @ 04:45
Delboy I don’t usually put insults in my posts but you wrote some insulting things so I put a couple of light zingers in their at you, but it seemed to hurt your feelings. Lighten up a bit. To continue, Remedial lesson #1: the phrase should be “when you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME,” but you butchered this simple saying as if you were George Bush. Look at the capital letters. See what they spell? Remedial lesson #2: the phrase should be err or the side of caution, not erk on the side of caution (maybe typo?). But irk or irksome (or erk as you put it) might be a description of your posts. Maybe you missed too many days from those superior British schools you mentioned.
Ok listen. I’m just genuinely surprised at your weak analysis based on how you presented yourself. Much of your examples and conclusions including the Boer War stuff made me think of Napolean Dynamite. And I don’t know of any non-retarded person who believed that Idi Amin was a cannibal. As a youngster I remember my mother and her friends laughing about the ridiculousness of this depiction. In case you didn’t know, black americans were used to lies and distortions being perpetuated about them. I mean, Jeez. I think you actually think you are being profound or at least making sense. (Maybe too many CNN soundbites forming your opinions? Ok sorry, enough zingers) Remember you started this by requesting that I expound on the brief comments I made about your post in my first post. There’s a thread throughout your posts which suggests that you are obsessed with race and particularly with black americans as evidenced by your negative comments and very weak conclusions about them. Again, I suggest it has something to do with African’s and Africa’s negative world image which is most likely ingrained in you like an inwardly visible Scarlet Letter. Whether it be the negative image of Nigerians across the world, failed states, coups, corruption. You asked about Ghana: Let’s see, Jerry Rawlings came to power in a coup. He faced several coup attempts himself. You must have been attempting to put forth the Ghana of only the last few years in your attempt to set it apart from the rest of Africa. I have a bias toward Western Parliamentary type of governments (bequeathed to us americans by the Westminster System) and feel there is no place in modern civilization for military coups. Maybe Ghanaians like yourself and your parents or uncles should stay in their home countries and rebuild and build a future that includes a modern political culture instead of leaving to go to England, American or elsewhere in their prime and returning to Africa in retirement age. I say the same to Nigerians and others. Maybe you could borrow a page from African-Americans, the majority of whom agitated for years in their individual and collective way from the past up to the modern times which resulted in, among other things, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution(citizenshp clause), Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Brown v. Board of Ed of 1955(and many other Supreme Court Cases which give real meaning to the Constitution), Civil Rights movement, to electing local, state and congressional representatives. Much farther to go, but we stayed and struggled (and that struggle is also often against ourselves but that is the cost of progress). My statement about the American Apartheid was referring the the lynchings and discrimination that black americans faced in America. But even while dealing with that, black americans supported the “African Cause” in many ways: church groups donating clothing and medicine to Africa, black colleges celebrating African Unity Day with marches, politcal and education forums and lobbying, Congressional Black Caucus championing Africa issues in the congress against staunch intertia of the majority white congress, Randall Robinson and TransAfrica (if you don’t know about him or his lobby group, read up on it, they’ve done good work for Africa and Caribbean), black politicians and community groups spearheading the passing of the South African sanctions bill in the US congress over Ronald Reagan’s veto. And you would be surprised to know how many poor and relatively uneducated black families donated to charities to “sponsor a child” in the hope that they could do some good. Some may scoff at this but when I think of someone living in federal housing projects and giving to these organizations to help an African child, it’s quite heart-warming. There are of course many more examples one could give.
You should read my posts again. I tried to point out to you how similar cultures tend to be although we may all have our particular preferences (for who we date, what political system we think is best, etc). And my criticisms of hip hop showed that hip hop with all its faults is that way because it is american, not because it is “black.” Black culture in the US is American. Full stop. Regardless of whether the faces are Fifty Cent, Jay Z, or Eminem it is the way it is because of the negative aspects of american culture, which is formed of many ethnic groups. Whether or not youth across the world think about hip hop that way, their lack of insight is no reason for the more intellectual of us to adopt their shallow or surface view of hip hop. And I’m speaking as someone who grew up with hip hop and was immersed in the culture from near its beginning.
BTW I’ve travelled to every continent except Oceana. And individuals can be just as biased in their reporting of events as any book author. Living a full human existence includes books as well as interacting with your fellow human beings. One should not take an either/or attitude toward reading books versus talking to individuals. Doing so is childish and doesn’t promote the development of a well-rounded person.
Ana said,
April 2, 2007 @ 13:26
Well I mean are they interested in girls outside of their race
koji said,
April 3, 2007 @ 12:33
Ana,
Oh, I see. I’d say yes they are interested in girls outside of their race, but there aren’t many girls outside their race to have relationships with in Japan, so many of them feel inexperienced if such a situation were to happen. I have a friend who is going out with this exchange student from U.K. They get along fine, but it was the girl who made the first move. lol
Delboy,
Oh, wow, that’s awesome! hehe I’ll help in any way I can. ^-^
Hmm…That depends on what you want to visit. Do you mean like Shopping/Food areas, Businesses, Tourists sites or Night Life?
Ana said,
April 4, 2007 @ 04:47
Thanks Koji now i only have to learn japanese lol
koji said,
April 4, 2007 @ 11:58
np ^_^
cool, ganbarimasu!
Ana said,
April 10, 2007 @ 11:14
ok i have a question ummm why are people on here talking about the history of like blk people and britian sry i didn’t read them ….but the point of this article whatever you want to call it was about who Japanese people men/women would marry or date
Delboy said,
April 10, 2007 @ 19:26
Just some back from a holiday in Ghana. It has to be one on the most underrated tourist destinations in the world. I think it is because the western media try and make out that Africans are poor and all dying of Aids.This is complete rubbish and I suggest you visit Ghana to see for yourself. One thing I notice is that 80% the non-ghanaian tourists were women under 25. There were a lot of Japanese, Chinese, Lebonese, British, German women in Accra. I tell you ladies if you like muscular black guys then Ghana is the place for you. All the guys have perfect bodies. I looked a bit out shape over there lol. I had a house keeper who was in his 70’s and his had a six pack and muscles bigger than mine.
Ana as for comments on why are we are talking about Black people when the subject is Japanese people men/women would marry or date, you should really read the posts and to findout where the conversation stemed from rather than catch the end and get confused. Many moons ago I talked about how media and culture influences which people Japanese choose to date. USA culture and media has a huge influence on Japanese people so It is not surprising that Japanese people would mostly date Americans. I also argued (because I am capable of more than one abstract thought) that American prejudice towards blacks has also been imprinted to Japanese and Asian culture. I used my experience of travelling through Asia to state that Asian tended to aspire to white in certain apsects so dating someone white is very attractive prospect. To Asians it is the re-reverse at times and Asian can look at down on or even hate black people so Asians in Asia are less likely to date a black person based on this prejudice. People had there comments and the conversation expanded. Read all my comments to get the gist of where the conversation went from.
Koji I want to know about Shopping/Food areas, Tourists sites or Night Life? The only thing I kept hearing about Japan is that Tokyo is the only place in the world that is as expensive as London. So I will be well adapted to the cost of stuff lol
Delboy said,
April 10, 2007 @ 22:29
By the way Lee, Larry Devlin is the CIA agent i keep referring to. Read his autobiography and you might understand more about what your country was trying to do in post independence Africa. Ignorance is sometimes a blessing, but too often a curse.
Ana said,
April 11, 2007 @ 04:42
Thanks I was just wondering why you and some other person were getting so deep into history or watever but you do have some really really good points
Lee said,
April 11, 2007 @ 17:08
Delboy,
I am very aware of Larry Devlin, but his ‘chief of station’ is a late comer. I’m also very aware of former CIA agents John Stockwell and Phillip Agee, not to mention several books by journalists on the actions of CIA in Africa and elsewhere. Have you heard of these other CIA agents? Probably not. But look them up. I won’t bother to name several books on the subject of CIA actions because you most likely have not read them as your knowlege and analysis seem to be at the “barber shop discussion stage.” (also seems like Devlin is the only person you’ve read in this “genre”) All these authors and agents make clear that CIA actions couldn’t have succeeded in Africa without collusion of African “strongmen” (such as in the overthrow of your original country’s first prime minister, Kwame Nkrumah, for example, or of Lumumba in then-Congo). I am sure my knowledge of this subject is light years ahead of yours. Before you talk about someone else’s supposed ignorance and curses, make sure you are well read in the subject. We both know what happens when you assume…
JAMJI said,
April 11, 2007 @ 19:17
Hi my name is jamji i would like to marry with some spian or american woman .
Maelainn said,
April 11, 2007 @ 19:23
Hi it’s so nice to know the other .I’ts so nice to meet the other .im one of that people whom like to know the other .i would like to marry some spain or american woman .send me or call me .pece_for_ever@hotmail.com. +21270017214
Delboy said,
April 12, 2007 @ 06:31
Lee remember my adapted phrase you shouldn’t assume lol.
Lee said,
April 13, 2007 @ 06:17
Delboy,
I have to say that some of your comments in your previous post seem so superficial, and even kind of self-insulting. Such as ” I tell you ladies if you like muscular black guys…” or “All the guys have perfect bodies.” Are you saying that that’s the main thing you (or Ghanaian men) offer Asian women? Do you really want a woman who only wants you for your body? Is that all YOU look for in a woman? Jeez. If you had looked up some of the info I suggested in several of my posts maybe you could be on your way to making your brain more muscular instead of just your biceps.
I think women of all races would find that attractive.
BTW in a previous post I pointed out that Ghana is definitely in the political tradition of most other african countries (rawlings came to power in a coup, murdered the leader of the country who had also come to power via a coup, rawlings then faced several coups attempts…), but you didn’t respond to that, either in the affirmative or negative.
Delboy said,
April 14, 2007 @ 02:19
I was being flippant or is it that you got no room for a sense of humour or wit in that massive brain of yours. Lighten up, I feel sorry for your partner if you always serious like this. Of course Ghanaian men have something more to offer than great bodies it is just one observation I made. Brains is one thing too, because in the Efante region of Ghana the literacy levels are much higher than American Americans despite not having the same level of income.
I bet you’re the kind of guy that tells kids that the Easter bunny doesn’t exist because Rabbit can’t lay eggs.
Yes Rawlins did come about through coup, but he left the country as a democracy and the fastest developing country in all of Africa. But all countries have a mirky past. In your country less than 8 years ago your President got into power because his brother denied certain American citizens a vote in the Presidential deciding state of Florida and got into power despite getting less votes than Gore, therefore you are in no position to look down on the politics of other nations.
Lee you really need to lighten up. If you are so proud to be an American then good for you, but we have a saying people like you, lost souls.
Like Ana said lets stopping about black history when this blogg is about who Asians choose to date.
Assadick Mahamat Ahamat said,
April 14, 2007 @ 20:33
Assadick said
April 14, 2007 @ 11:53
Hi it’s so nice to know the other .I’ts so nice to meet the other .im one of that people whom like to know the other .i would like to marry some spain or american woman .send me or call me .pece_for_ ever massadick@yahoo.fr
(+235) 6213201 you call me in any time
Assadick Mahamat Ahamat said,
April 14, 2007 @ 20:40
Assadick said
April 14, 2007 @ 11:53
Hi it’s so nice to know the other .I’ts so nice to meet the other .im one of that people whom like to know the other .i would like to marry some spain or american woman .send me or call me .pece_for_ ever massadick@yahoo.fr
(+235) 6213201 you can call me in any time
Lee said,
April 15, 2007 @ 13:06
Delboy,
I just based my comments on what you wrote. I didn’t read any “jokes” about brains in your post, only “jokes” about muscularity or brawn (and similar comments in one of your earlier posts about the ideal physical match between blacks and asians that you attributed to a study you likely invented out of thin air).
So, in your comment about me being “proud to be an american,” are you saying that you’re not proud to be British? Or that you don’t fly or wear the union jack? If so, why are you in England?
(that quip about literacy must have been a joke, too, because you provided no source, i’m sure you know that anecdotes do not provide useful info)
Maybe you and some of those Efantes should go to Ghana to make sure that democracy stays there (if it can be called a democracy after only 5 years) because Rawlings has stepped down from power before only to stage another coup when he didn’t like what the civilian government was doing. So stay tuned. Of course I hope there is never a coup or bloodshed again there, but in Africa, history has a way of repeating itself.
But your phrase “if you are so proud to be an american…” misses the point in a rather low-brow way. I face the facts of my country, warts and all, negatives and positives, and see the connections and common trends with many societies. This is a necessary perspective if one is to be successful in the fight for justice & democracy, and against despots, dictators and imperialism, both at home and abroad.
BTW I don’t think I ever mention the easter bunny to kids I meet, but I have been known to say “Bah, humbug.”
And you’re right, we should stop talking about this, because honestly I don’t think you know enough and aren’t skillful enough for it to be fruitful.
genetically mediocre white said,
April 18, 2007 @ 08:53
>>In the UK scientist have said it is official Oriental women are more likely to produce a child of high intelligence than any other race of women. They claim that people from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and over far eastern oriental countries have the genetic body structure to produce children of high intelligence. These same scientist state males of west of African origins produce the children of greatest physical dexterity, meaning that their children will gain movement quicker, have greater reactions, hand eye coordination and plus more speed and power. These scientist, who are white in case you are cynical, claim that whites are genetically mediocre and that to create the prefect genetic human you would have to get an Oriental woman to have a child with a West African man
genetically mediocre white said,
April 18, 2007 @ 08:57