Marriage in the Kingdom of Animation: A Study on Animation Consumption and Marriage in Japan Open Access

Abstract

Using data from the 2008 Japan General Social Survey, this paper studies the correlation between Japanese adults' animation (also known as "anime") viewing habit and likelihood of marriage. As a pop culture product, animation plays an important role in the social life of Japanese people by introducing new life choices and gender roles to its audiences, which may further change their preference on marriage. This study finds that animation consumption is positively correlated with Japanese females' likelihood of marriage but is not correlated with marriage of Japanese males.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction. 1

II. Background and Literature Review.. 4

III. Data. 10

IV. Empirical Strategy. 19

V. Results. 21

VII. Limitations. 24

VIII. Summary and Conclusion. 26

Tables

Table 1: Sample Means and Standard Deviations of All Variables, by Gender and Fertility. 28

Table 2: OLS Estimates Predicting Marital Status. 30

Table 3a: Modified OLS Estimates Predicting "Never Married". 31

Table 3b: Modified OLS Estimates Predicting "Not Married". 32

Table 4: Summary Results of Regression by Gender using Modified Model 33

Table 5: Summary Results of Robustness Check on Samples with No Children. 34

Table 6a: Summary Results of Falsification Test on Females. 35

Table 6b: Summary Results of Falsification Test on Males. 36

Figures

Figure 1: Singulate mean age at first marriage in Japan from 1975 to 2012. 37

Figure 2a: Japan population pyramid in 1970. 37

Figure 2b: Japan population pyramid in 2010. 38

Figure 2c: Population projections for Japan by 2050. 38

Figure 3: Tokyo Comic Market Total Combined Attendance from 1975 to 2012. 39

Figure 4: Content Analysis of Animation Themes. 39

Figure 5: Content Analysis of Animation Main Character Gender Distribution. 40

Figure 6: Content Analysis of Main Character Personality: Strong & Brave. 40

Figure 7: Content Analysis of Main Character Personality: Intelligent 41

Figure 8: Content Analysis of Social Role: Pursuance of Free Love. 41

Figure 9: Content Analysis of Social Role: Pursuance of Personal Goals or Professional Careers 42

Figure 10: Content Analysis of Main Character Social Role Construction: Family (Female) 42

Figure 11: Content Analysis of Social Role: Family (Male) 43

Appendices

Appendix 1: Animation Content Search List 44

Appendix 2: Animation Theme Categorization Based on Story of Main Characters. 48

Appendix 3: Common Traits of Males and Female Characters in Animations. 48

Appendix 4: Categorization of Education Attainment 49

Appendix 5: Full Results of Regression by Gender using Modified Model 50

Appendix 6: Full Results of Robustness Check on Samples with No Children. 52

Appendix 7a: Full Results of Falsification Test on Females. 54

Appendix 7b: Full Results of Falsification Test on Males. 55

References. 56

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Economics
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Economics, General Sociology, Demography
Keyword	Japan Economics Animation Demographics Culture
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Uwaifo, Ruth O, Emory University
Committee Members	Francis-Tan, Andrew, Emory University Cook, Ryan M, Emory University

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