"Friendship Marriage": All About Japan's New Relationship Trend That Excludes Love Or Sex

A new relationship trend called "friendship marriage" is gaining popularity among young people in Japan. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), under this new type of marital relationship, people are becoming platonic partners without falling in love or having sex. Thousands of people, precisely around one per cent of Japan's population of 124 million, are choosing this kind of relationship that is based on shared values and interests. They include asexual individuals, homosexuals, and heterosexuals who are disillusioned with traditional marriage. 

An agency called Colorus, which specialises in friendship marriage, shared the data related to this new trend. According to its data, since March 2015, around 500 people in Japan have indulged in this type of marriage. They have formed households and some have even raised children, the agency revealed, per SCMP. 

What is friendship marriage?

Friendship marriage is a type of relationship where partners are legally spouses but without romantic love or sexual interaction. They can live together or separately. Couples can also decide to have children through artificial insemination. In this relationship, both individuals are also free to pursue romantic relationships with other people outside the marriage, as long as there is a mutual agreement. 

"Friendship marriage is like finding a roommate with similar interests," said an individual who has been in such an arrangement for three years, per SCMP. "I'm not suited to be someone's girlfriend, but I can be a good friend. I only wanted someone with similar tastes to do things we both enjoy, to chat and laugh with," another said.

How does friendship marriage work? 

This arrangement is not about traditional romantic love or marrying a best friend. Instead, under this arrangement, couples usually meet before marriage and spend hours or days agreeing on the details of their life, such as whether to eat meals together, how to split expenses, who does the laundry and how to allocate refrigerator space.

Despite seeming unromantic, such discussions have helped nearly 80% of couples in this relationship type to live together happily, Colorus said. The agency added that in many cases, some couples even have children together. 

Who is choosing friendship marriage? 

According to SCMP, people interested in this type of relationship are on average 32.5 years old with incomes exceeding the national average. This trend is also gaining traction among asexual individuals and homosexuals trying to avoid traditional marriage patterns. 

Moreover, some homosexuals, who dislike traditional marriage patterns or romantic relationships but are subject to societal pressures, have also been embracing this new trend, the outlet reported. 

Although these types of relationships sometimes end in divorce, the advantages include enjoying policy benefits, companionship and "helping those who feel lost, dislike traditional marriage, or consider themselves social outcasts", Colorus said.