Exotic Ins and Outs of Marrying a Foreigner

This Japan Times article about relationships between Japanese women and westerners is quite interesting given the fact that Japan has actually published manuals about meeting foreign men.

Some of the magazines have taken the subject a step further and include real how-to manyuaru (manuals) with such titles as: “Gaijin Daalin wo Getto Suru Killaa Item (Killer Items That Will Get a Gaijin Darling)” and “Gaijin to no Renai wo Kekkon ni Musubitsukeruniwa (How to Convert a Gaijin Love Affair into Marriage).” Most of these instruct women to combine the traditional yamatonadeshiko (stereotypically demure Japanese woman) with gendaiteki tsuyosa (modern-day strength). For example, a gaijin hunter should carry a hand-ironed handkerchief at all times, but she should also be able to voice her opinion on current affairs, preferably in English. (Oddly, there’s no mention that in order to do so, she should subscribe to this paper).

I particularly like the stereotype given to western men in Japan:

In any case, the manuals seem to be working since statistics show that the number of marriages between Japanese women and foreign men has doubled (8,158 couples in 2003) over the past 20 years. For many women, foreign men represent everything naisu (nice) that Japanese just can’t (or won’t) provide. Top on everyone’s list is the conviction that foreign men are sweeter and more romantic, that they will keep saying “I love you” well into middle age. And if the daalin is from the U.S. or Europe, he will of course, smilingly share the burden of kaji (household chores) and ikuji (child-raising) and be home by 8 p.m. — at the latest. Chances are the daalin will take her back to his home country to live in luxury, and most importantly, their children will have the coveted daburu kokuseki (double nationalities). There it is, the scenario of the ultimate kachigumi (winning team).

Even Korean men have a favorable stereotype:

Interestingly, Japanese women choose Korean men over any other nationality, followed by American. Experts say the Yonsama Ninki (Bae Yong Joon popularity) may have something to do with this. But according to my girlfriends, they’ve always suspected that Kankoku no otoko wa jyounetsuteki de ichizu (Korean men are passionate and faithful), much more so than the cold, distant, absent Japanese male.

Why would someone even need a manual on meeting western men to begin with? Most single western men are probably trying to meet Japanese women anyway. I wonder if Korea has any manuals on meeting western men like the English Spectrum guys had for Korean women? I wonder if that would make the same amount of headlines? It would be interesting anyway to see Korean women’s point of view on meeting western men.