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An Internet survey asking Japanese men and women aged 20 to 39 which company they would like a potential marriage partner to work for ranked Nintendo number one.
The survey, conducted Nov 28 and 29, 2012, received 500 valid responses. Filling out the top five were All Nippon Airways (ANA), Tanita (electronic scales), Google and Apple. Reasons given for choices were wide-ranging including, “It’s a hot company,” and “My partner is unlikely to gain a middle-aged bulge (working there).”
TOP TEN FOR 2012
- Nintendo: Previous Rank: 6 Reasons: I feel it’s constantly at the top of its industry and doesn’t falter (Female, 20s). Because I like games (Male, 20s).
- All Nippon Airways: Previous Rank: 14 Reasons: It appears to be a forward-thinking and energetic company (Female, 20s). Salaries look good (Female, 30s). It would be great to marry a cabin attendant (Male, 20s).
- Tanita: Previous Rank: – Reasons: It looks like they take care to manage employees’ health (Male, 30s). My partner is unlikely to gain a middle-aged bulge working there (Female, 20s).
- Google: Previous Rank: – Reasons: Company has a cool image (Female, 30s). Company’s industry position going forward is thought to be secure (Female, 30s). Flexible working conditions (Male, 20s).
- Apple: Previous Rank: – Reasons: It’s a hot company (Female, 30s). Its products are selling well (Female, 30s).
- Mitsubishi: Previous Rank: 20 Reasons: Company appears stable (Female, 30s). Appears to have a lot of people who are active globally (Female, 20s). High salary (Male, 20s).
- Shiseido: Previous Rank: 50 Reasons: It has an image of taking good care of its employees (Male, 20s). I’m interested in beauty (Male, 20s). The company has made a good impression on me (Male, 20s).
- East Japan Railway Company: Previous Rank: 22 Reasons: If my partner has detailed knowledge about railways it would be helpful (Male, 30s). Punctuality (Male, 20s).
- The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ: Previous Rank: 19 Reasons: It’s a major corporation and thought to be stable (Female, 20s).
- Suntory: Previous Rank: 10 Reasons: I buy their products a lot because they suit my tastes (Female, 20s).
Major electronics manufacturers, who dominated the upper rankings in 2011, fell dramatically due to their recent poor corporate performances with Panasonic dropping from 1st to 40th, Sony falling from 2nd to 11th, and Sharp plummeting all the way down to 125th from 5th place. On the other side, foreign IT companies which have remained strong in the smartphone and tablet markets, and major trading companies benefiting from soaring resource prices have gained in popularity.
Males tended to pick companies in the foodstuffs or cosmetics industries as the ideal places from which to choose a wife, suggesting they were focused on beauty and life essentials. Females, on the other hand, were inclined to rank trading companies and banks in the upper bracket, demonstrating a desire that their potential partner work at a stable company and have a relatively high salary.
As to what traits people desired the most in the company of a potential partner, 41.4% of respondents chose stability (same as the previous year), making it the number one pick. This was followed by (multiple responses allowed):
- Good Salary 35% Previous rank: 3
- Treats employees well 30% 2
- Saturday & Sunday off 27.4% 8
- Good paid holiday system 22.4% 9
- Good child rearing support 22.0% 10
- Good future prospects 17.4% 5
- Good bonuses 16.0 7
- Little overtime work 15.2% 15
- Good pension and retirement benefits 14.6% 6
Looking at desired traits according to gender revealed that female respondents emphasized money-centric attributes such as “good salary,” “good future prospects,” and “good pension and retirement benefits,” indicating that in addition to stability, they were seeking partners with good future earning potential. Males, on the other hand, gave high marks to characteristics such as “child raising support,” “little overtime,” “reliability,” and “good paid holiday system” when ranking traits they would like to see in their potential wife’s company, indicating they were looking for someone would also have time to take care of household duties.
Source: Business Media Photo Credit: Blogspot (Allaboutkristine)
Read more stories on RocketNews24. -- When do Japanese People Have Their First Kiss? -- Lack of Qualifications More Troubling Than Ill-Advised Hook-Ups -- Instant Ramen #1 on Favorite Japanese Factory Tours, Field Trips
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23 Comments
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Knox Harrington
Why would you care which company your partner works for. Shallowness extraordinaire.
I am constantly surprised at how old fashioned Japan seems when it comes to marriage. I am sure there are couples who love each other but most mariages seem to be that of conveniece - two people are safer than one - than to have much to do with loving each other. Is there any passion in Japan? I say no. It is a shallow society where what counts is the surface, be it your husbands job, your new bag, or your childrens last kanji test result. Look around you, people are not happy here. Instead, they manage.
michikokada
Not all Japanese women are after money and there are many Western women ( blond/ brunette/ redhead) are gold diggers, I don't think it's fair to frame a nationality and criticise.
FightingViking
No company : "profession libérale"
anglootaku
Apple and Google's salary would top the list of the highest salaries even for a tea serving seceretary times 10000 compared to those other Japanese companies..
anglootaku
Sega was founded by an American in Japan and Taito was founded by a Russian in Japan, in case you folks didn't know.. Japan Today should write an article about both founders.
anglootaku
Sega, Capcom, Konami, Sega rules! ^_^ Sonic has always been more fun
tmarie
Chiba, I hear you! Mine was a student when we met so no job. They all changed their tune after and women I didn't know would suggest the pregnant option.
We get the rabu rabu comment as well. It's really sad that folks think of marriage the way they do and I'm glad a found an awesome husband who isn't like the sheep folks when it comes to relationships.
Mind you, I never married him with the notion of his money so perhaps that's what makes the biggest difference?
Neo_Rio
I would have thought Nintendo employees would just play games with their prospective dates.
ChibaChick
tmarie - J women told me I should leave because I "could do better"! Now these same women tell me I am "lucky"! Luck never came into it. He was poor, but awesome. I saw it. His current employer saw it. They couldnt. Their loss.
@The True - I KNOW! A lot of J women seem to think Im "weird" because my husband and I are "rabu-rabu"! He can be a total twat and Im sure at times I can be too(!) but we are far better together than we are apart and i would never take the kids away from him. They love him.
GJN48
AKS, you can have all the salary men,i'll take the kawaii onnas
tmarie
No car companies?!
When I was dating my husband, after hearing where he worked, Japanese women would suggest I get pregnant so he'd have to marry me. I don't think I've ever recovered from the shock of their comments. Shallow, selfish and immature. And then I met the wives of his coworkers... Nothing shocking as to the profile most fit.
cramp
...and tomorrow onwards N male employees wear their nintendo nametags right out of their front door..
Nessie
They're a global name in scales. They make good, simple products. They've been in the telly for having a good, healthy company cafeteria. They seem to be one of those eccentric but good places to work. Or that's the rep, anyway.
The_True
ChibaChick women like you are not in japan, here if you lose your job, next you lose your kids if you have any.
good for you.
combinibento
Never even heard of Tanita... Yet it beats out Apple and Google.
ChibaChick
Yep. So sad. When I met my husband he was working in a crappy company and I was earning almost double what he was. But he was the most incredible man I had ever met and nothing else mattered. 10 years on he now has a great job and earns good money but he is still the man I fell in love with and if we had to go back to our cardboard box we were first living in (not much of an exaggeration, believe me!) tomorrow that would be fine. I married him, not his title.
AiserX
A wise choice on part of Japan. :) Just about all us now like games ;))))))))
michikokada
"I like games" is a perfectly good reason, I suspect the couple won't fight verbally in their marriage - game on ;)
proxy
The problem is that the guys working at Nintendo want to marry giant pillows with an anime character printed on it.
Scrote
I'm not sure Nintendo is all that stable: their consoles aren't selling too well any more.
sighclops
Heaven forbid you being interested in the person for who they are!
papasmurfinjapan
Only one person on that list gave a reason worth a mention.
The guy who chose Google because of "Flexible working conditions".
Obviously "work-life balance" is still not very high on most people's agendas.
zenkan
Anyone working in a company will already be married to IT, so, unless you are a bigamist or your belief system allows for multiple partners, this is a non-starter.