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, or omiai as it is properly known in Japan with the honorific prefix , is a Japanese traditional custom which relates closely to Western matchmaking, in which a woman and a man are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. The term is sometimes mistranslated as an "arranged marriage" but it can be described as a meeting opportunity with more serious considerations for the future as a process of courtship. According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, in 2005 it was estimated that around 6.2% of marriages in Japan are arranged via .Ito, Masami, " Marriage ever-changing institution", Japan Times, November 3, 2009. 健康と出産に関する全国調査, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
was a solemn practice and involved considerations that are not given as much weight by most modern [[Japanese people]], such as family bloodlines and class. Nowadays, this type of is usually seen portrayed more in films and television dramas.
After the Pacific War, the trend was to abandon the restrictive arranged-meetings system. In the 1930s and 40s, practices accounted for 69% of marriages in Japan; by 2010 the figure had dropped to 5.2%. Modern forms of are still practiced in Japan today by various marriage agencies; however, practices such as or 'spouse hunting' have also emerged as alternatives to for many single people who struggle to find a marriage partner, but might not want to go through a matchmaker. There have also been accounts of how parents pressure their unmarried children into arranged meetings that eventually lead to marriages, particularly with children who would assume family responsibilities such as those inheriting a family business.
In 2014, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe set aside ¥3 billion to help with and matchmaking efforts within Japan, as part of the Japanese governments efforts to increase the declining birth rate in Japan.
Historically, signified that the parties were brought together expressly for the purpose of marriage on the initiative of the parents, a friend of the family, or a go-between. It also meant that the initial criteria of selection were objective ones.Dore, Ronald Philip. City Life in Japan: A Study of a Tokyo Ward. Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library, 1999. The potential spouse and their family met with the go-between () and examined all eligible persons. The often had photographs of candidates and a , a small personal history. The frequently included the name, age, health, education, occupation and marital status of all members of the candidate's family.
The families then sat down with the and screened the portfolios to eliminate any obviously inappropriate candidates.Blood, Robert O. Love Match and Arranged Marriage; a Tokyo-Detroit Comparison. New York, Free Press, 1967. The photographs and were then brought to the home of the potential spouse's family for the son or daughter to scrutinize. The participant and their family examined the photos and short personal histories based on an investigation of social consideration. The education level and occupations of the potential candidate's family were historically the first aspects taken into consideration at that meeting.Edwards, Walter Drew. Modern Japan Through its Weddings: Gender, Person, and Society in Ritual Portrayal. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1989. The potential mate and their mother then created a list of primary choices and asked the to investigate the first choice.Applbaum, Kalman D. "Marriage with the Proper Stranger: Arranged Marriage in Metropolitan Japan." Ethnology 34.1 (1995): 37-51.
In more selective , the candidates and their families were judged on a larger set of criteria aimed at determining the suitability and the balance of the marriage. These criteria are formally known in Japan as iegara. They included level of education, income, occupation, physical attractiveness, religion, social standing, and hobbies. The participant's kettō also played a large role. Many were fearful of the possibility that a potential candidate's blood was contaminated with diseases such as epilepsy, neurosis, or mental illness. The fear was so prevalent that the Eugenic Protection Law of 1948 was passed to legalize sterilization and abortion for people with a history of mental defects and other hereditary diseases. Social status also played a large role in selecting a candidate. Ideally, paired candidates and their families would be of equal social status, so some candidates had a hard time finding a mate if their family was not of a certain social status. Family lineage also affected the quality of candidates historically; for example, a candidate with samurai blood was more likely to be picked than one with ancestry from a different class, especially during the Tokugawa era.
Historically, marriage was criticized for promoting patriarchal relationships with traditional power structures and distinct divisions of labor between males and females.
Historically, the was an opportunity for the parents to survey the bride/groom as well as the couple themselves. The meeting began with an informal introduction between the two families by the . The introduction was often followed by small talk between the parents. Occasionally, the conversation shifted to one of the potential candidates. Toward the end of the meeting, the potential couple were often advised to go off to spend some time alone, in order to get better acquainted.
Many Zainichi were discriminated against for being "half-bloods" — i.e. not of full Japanese ancestry. Also, the year of the Horse in the fifth cycle of the Japanese lunar calendar, — every 60th year — were thought to be bad luck."Japanese Calendar." japan-guide.com. 2007. 18 Oct. 2007
The most widespread discrimination is against members of the , the descendants of workers traditionally associated with trades involving blood, death, or uncleanness, such as leather-workers, shoe-menders, and butchers, since shoes were too dirty to be taken into the house, and meat was in the past forbidden by the Buddhist faith. During the Tokugawa shogunate, demotion to status was sometimes a way of punishing criminals."Taboos in Japan." Hanami Web. 2007. 6 Nov. 2007 <> Today, members may be identified by the region of the city where they live or by their street address, though it is getting increasingly rare and Japanese people's views on shoes and beef among other things have changed significantly. Historically, a would require a candidate to bring a family history to prove that they are not a member of the .
Members of the Ainu people, an indigenous people from the Hokkaidō region, were commonly avoided as well. Descendants of people who were exposed to the radiation from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also avoided due to perceptions regarding possible child deformities and susceptibilities to rare diseases.
The general purpose of the , especially the traditional way of , is to provide introductions for people entering a new arrangement and to assist candidates.Hendry, Joy. Marriage in Changing Japan. London: Croom Helm, 1981. The is expected to play a variety of roles throughout the process. The first is the bridging role, hashikake, in which the introduces potential candidates, and potentially their families to each other depending on requirements. The second role, which is increasingly less common in modern Japan, is as a liaison for the families to avoid direct confrontation and differences in opinions between them by serving as an intermediary for working out the details of the marriage. The is even consulted by the married couple after their wedding if they encounter problems in their married life.
Even though marriages are less common than they once were, they do still hold a place in popular media. One example is Wedding Bells, a panel type game show which ran from 1993 to 1997 in Japan on TBS, that substituted for the role of the in which contestants were introduced and screened for marriage possibility.
Sometimes, parents subtly interject the phrase into casual conversation, to imply that both parents have consented for their daughter to meet eligible men. The daughter may be unaware that her parents have suggested her availability through the use of . In exceptional circumstances, though growing increasingly rare now, some parents send a candidacy picture to a future husband or go-between without their daughter's knowledge or consent.Lebra, Takie Sugiyama. Japanese Women: Constraint and Fulfillment. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984. In general now, though, marriage agencies performing duties only discuss introductions and registration with their clients directly, thus removing involvement of parents entirely in many cases.
In Japan, many women are stereotyped as looking for three attributes: height (specifically someone tall), high salary, and high education. This is commonly known as the "Three H's."
In 1995, women were reported as more inclined to seek a romantic relationship than men, with the inculturation of Western ideals of true love, followed by marital and domestic bliss, at times seen as the cause for the discrepancy. Women in Japan were historically raised with the expectation that they may only find satisfaction within the home as wives and mothers, with later generations more likely to place greater emphasis on the less traditional ideals of romantic love. Despite this, the number of Japanese women pursuing careers and other avenues of fulfillment has increased, resulting in a falling rate of marriages within Japan.
There are several methods for meeting potential spouses that differ from the structure of the . For example, or (companion) is a method young people have adopted into modern society."Things Japanese: Omiai and Compa." Yamasa Student Network. 2007. 7 Nov. 2007
The idea of the cutoff age is taken quite seriously, with the tendency for women who remain unmarried past to be treated as inferior. They are often compared to Japanese Christmas cake: fresh up until the 25th of December but becoming less appetizing with every day past this date. A newer expression replaces Christmas cake with , a dish of noodles to see out the year on the 31st, thus creating motivation for Japanese women after the age of 25 to seek help in the form of introductions from a marriage agency.
Men possess a greater degree of choice and freedom. Previously, a man who was not married by his 30s was considered untrustworthy by colleagues and employers, who believed that such men have not been conditioned to learn the fundamental principles of co-operation and responsibility. For males, marriage also makes an implicit statement about staying in the family business. While previously men who engaged in often occupied dominant roles within the marriage, many of the men now registered with marriage agencies for help in finding a wife through are seeking a balanced, loving relationship with mutual love between partners.
During 漢魏六朝 period, the custom of selecting a son-in-law was quite prevalent. Historical records began to document instances of this practice, with 劉邦, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, being personally chosen as a son-in-law by 呂雉’s father, 呂公.
In Song Dynasty, matchmaking customs further developed. The《夢梁錄》records:「然後男家擇日備酒禮詣女家，或借園圃，或湖舫內，兩親相見，謂之相親。」("Then the man's family would choose a date, prepare wine and rituals, and visit the woman's family. They would meet in a garden or by a lake, which is referred to as 'matchmaking'.") Here, "matchmaking" primarily refers to the meeting between the parents of both parties, without explicitly stating whether the bride and groom themselves met. However, there are also records indicating that during the Song period, both parties did have opportunities to meet under the arrangement of a matchmaker.
is one of the main topics of Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's ''The Makioka Sisters'', which was published in the 1940s.
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