More Japanese Women Choose ‘Silver Divorce’ After Decades of Marriage

A Kawasaki couple is finalising a divorce nearly a year after the husband moved out, following more than two decades of marriage.

The final break came after their two daughters grew up and left home, ending the family routine that had kept the marriage together.

A marriage that changed after the children left

Ayumi, a 62-year-old Kawasaki resident, now lives alone in a spacious suburban house that was originally bought to raise a family.

Her two cats are her only full-time companions.

Ayumi’s husband moved out nearly a year ago, and the couple are now finalising their divorce.

She spoke on condition that her surname be withheld.

“This was not how I envisioned my later years,” Ayumi said.

“He worked very long hours, including on weekends, and I was always busy taking care of the house and raising the children,” she said.

Ayumi said the couple had initially functioned well together, but gradually lost the communication they once shared.

“I think we worked well as a team at the beginning, but somewhere along the way, we just stopped talking like we had before.”

The marriage also went through financial stress during their daughters’ university years and the deaths of both partners’ respective parents.

A wider shift among older women

Ayumi’s experience comes as more older Japanese women choose to leave distant marriages after their children have left home.

Changing pension rules are also part of the context behind the growing number of women choosing what is described as “silver divorce”.

For women whose marriages were shaped around long working hours, housework and raising children, the end of that family structure can bring long-delayed questions about the relationship.

Source: South China Morning Post