Each of the parents has forked out 14,000 yen ($96) to attend this event, hosted by the matchmaking agency Association of Parents of Marriage Proposal Information. It’s not that Japan, a notoriously work-obsessed nation where time is at a premium, hasn’t tried out the more direct approach to speed-dating, where the youngsters do it for themselves. Japan remains a highly patriarchal society in which married women are often expected to take the caregiver role, despite government efforts to get husbands more involved. But however great the yearning for grandchildren, Miyagoshi says she always emphasizes to parents that their children should come first. No matter how much parents want grandchildren, the children must be willing to have children,” she said.

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Persons: Tokyo CNN —, “, It’s, hasn’t, ”, Noriko Miyagoshi, Junko Fukutome, Fumio Kishida, James Raymo, ” Raymo, Shigeki Matsuda, Philip Fong, Matsuda, it’s, ” Matsuda, Raymo, Miyagoshi, Tomohiro Ohsumi, don’t, Richard A, Brooks, hadn’t Organizations: Tokyo CNN, Sakai Chamber, Commerce, of Parents, Association of Parents, CNN, East Asian Studies, Princeton University, Chukyo University, National Institute of Population, Social Security, Young, Organisation for Economic Co, Getty Locations: Osaka, Japan, Aichi, Roppongi, Tokyo, AFP, France, Germany, Yonomori, Fukushima, Hie