The Demography of Remarriage in Japan (eng)

This book provides the first comprehensive demographic overview of remarriage in Japan. Despite the fact that nearly one in five marriages in Japan now involves at least one formerly married spouse, very little is known about the nature of remarriages and how they differ from first marriages. One important focus of this book is to examine fertility intentions and outcomes in remarriages and to compare them with marriages in which both partners are in their first marriage. It is well known that low rates of first marriage contribute to Japan’s very low total fertility rate (TFR), but there is currently no theoretical or empirical basis for understanding how levels and patterns of remarriage are related to the TFR.

To understand trends and patterns of remarriage in Japan, the book begins with an overview of the voluminous research literature on remarriage in the USA and other Western countries. This overview consists of a summary of trends and theoretical frameworks for understanding remarriage and is followed by a summary of existing research on correlates of remarriage and outcomes associated with higher-order marriages. Of particular importance is the attention paid to stepfamily fertility and the extent to which remarriage is associated with overall levels of fertility.

An important contribution of this book is its presentation of basic descriptive information about levels and correlates of remarriage in Japan. These descriptive analyses are based on published data in the vital statistics reports and individual-level data from the National Fertility Surveys conducted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research and the National Survey of Households with Children conducted by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training.

James Raymo is Professor of Sociology and the Henry Wendt III '55 Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University. He is Social Demographer whose research focuses on documenting and understanding the causes and potential consequences of demographic changes associated with population aging in Japan. His published research includes analyses of marriage timing, divorce, recession and fertility, marriage and women’s health, single mothers’ well-being, living alone, family change and social inequality, employment and health at older ages, and regional differences in health at older ages. He has published two

earlier manuscripts in the Springer Population Studies of Japan Series. The first (2017) was an evaluation of the relevance of the notion of "diverging destinies" in Japan and was co-authored with Miho Iwasawa. The second (2022) was an overview of patterns of educational assortative mating in Japan and was co-authored with Fumiya Uchikoshi. He has published over 60 scientific articles in leading international journals, serves on the editorial board of four population studies journals, is current Vice-President of the Population Association of America, and has mentored and collaborated with numerous scholars in Japan.

Shohei Yoda is Senior Researcher in the Department of Population Dynamics Research at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. His research focuses on family change and differentials. He has published some of the only studies of divorce and remarriage based on population data in Japan. In addition to his research, he is also engaged in conducting of the Japanese National Fertility Surveys and preparation of population projections. He has published his research in leading international journals of population studies.

Miho Iwasawa is Director of the Department of Population Dynamics Research at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. She is one of the most prolific Demographers in Japan, having published dozens of research articles in leading demography journals in Japan and internationally. Her research focuses primarily on marriage and fertility and has also written on cohabitation and divorce. She published on earlier manuscript in the Springer Population Studies of Japan Series, “Diverging Destinies: The Japanese Case” co-authored with James Raymo. In addition to her research, he is also engaged in conducting of the Japanese National Fertility Surveys and preparation of population projections.

Setsuya Fukuda is Senior Researcher in the Department of Research Planning and Coordination at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. He is Social Demographer whose research focuses on the inter-relationships between gender, family formation, and family policy. He has published his research in leading demography journals in Japan and internationally. He also plays a central role in two large international projects: one is the National Transfer Accounts Project and the other focuses on domestic time use and automation of housework.

Erika Termato is Graduate Student in the School of Education at the University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on the sociology of education, gender, and the labor market.