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Marrying late 'natural for modern women' Japan's Princess Sayako used her 35th birthday on Sunday to explain to a public curious about her single status that she believed it was 'natural' for modern women to marry late and have few children.
"The current growing trend of women marrying late and having less children has brought up various questions," Sayako, the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, noted in a statement issued to mark her birthday. "But I think it is a natural trend in a sense, given women's way of life is diversifying," she said. Single women who are in their 30s or older and have no children been been under the media spotlight in Japan since the release last year of a book titled Howling Of The Underdog which called them 'losers' no matter how successful they were in their careers. The book was written by Ms Junko Sakai, a freelance columnist who is one of the 'losers' herself. The average age for the first marriage of Japanese women is 26.8, according to the latest government survey released in 2002 and covering 1988-2002. This was up from 25.3 in a similar 1983-1987 survey. Princess Sayako also said in her statement that she was 'deeply worried' about Crown Princess Masako, who is suffering from mental and physical fatigue and has been absent from her official duties for the past four months. Princess Masako, a former diplomat, married Princess Sayako's brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, in 1993 when she was 29. She gave birth to a baby girl in 2001 after more than eight years of marriage. |
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