[KS] Re: Koreans in Japan

[Frank Hoffmann]

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I am pretty sure that Sonia Ryang will have some more updated 
statistics about intermarriage in her book or in one of her article 
-- but I don't have this with me now. Here are a few paragraphs about 
this from another article which you find online at
http://www.han.org/a/fukuoka96a.html
-- giving the number of  intermarriages with Japanese in 1991 as 82.5%.


"Koreans in Japan: Past and Present," by Fukuoka Yasunori, _Saitama 
University Review_, vol. 31, no. 1
==========QUOTE====================
Marriage

At the time when first and second generations made up the majority of 
Koreans in Japan, it was expected that Koreans should marry their 
country persons to maintain their "Korean blood". It was also a taboo 
among Japanese to marry Koreans. According to a statistic from the 
Japanese government, among the 6,892 marriages of Koreans registered 
in 1970, 56.3% were with their country persons and 42.4% were 
intermarriages with Japanese.

However, in 1991, amongst the 11,677 Korean resident marriages 
registered, 82.5% were intermarriages with Japanese and only 16.8% 
were with their country persons. Korean intermarriages with Japanese 
are partly influenced by a social phenomenon that Japanese men have 
difficulty finding partners among young Japanese women. The statistic 
thus should include certain numbers of marriages between Japanese 
males and Korean females who were born in Korea. However, it is clear 
that the number of marriages between Koreans in Japan and Japanese 
have continued to increase in recent years.

Marriages with Koreans are still a taboo among Japanese, although 
such taboos are weaker compared with the previous generations. Even 
some young Japanese tend to avoid marrying Koreans. Those young 
Japanese and Koreans who are free from such taboos often have parents 
that are very likely to disagree to intermarriage. There are many 
cases in which intermarried couples separate as a result of failing 
to understand each other's experiences and situations, even though 
they love each other.

Nevertheless, the number of intermarriages between Japanese and 
Koreans is certainly increasing. Amongst the young Koreans in our 
investigation in 1993, 15. 0% responded that they want to marry their 
country persons; 20.0% responded that they want to marry their 
country persons if possible; 31.4% responded that they do not prefer 
their country persons; and 33.7% responded that they do not prefer 
their country persons at all.
========= END OF QUOTE====================



>REPLY sends your message to the whole list
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>
>The subject of intermarriage between Koreans and Japanese is an 
>interesting one.  A few years
>ago I read an article in a Japanese magazine (Bungei Shunju? 
>--unfortunately I didn't save the
>reference) on the lives of Koreans in Japan.  Among other 
>interesting claims, the article
>described intermarriage with Japanese as anything but rare; instead, 
>it was said to be the
>rule.  The statistical number given was surprisingly high--I seem to 
>recall that it was over
>50% of recorded marriages.  That number sounds exaggerated, and it 
>may well have been (or my
>memory of the article may be flawed).  Does anyone have the facts?
>
>----------------------
>Robert Ramsey
>sr1 at umail.umd.edu

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