Money, Family.

Rarely a divorce but my family is Chinese and Japanese but is greatly influenced by the Japanese culture--especially on my mother's side. We are very business orientated and even though the primary reason was a "compatibility", most marriages in our family was for business purposes. Most likely, a "matchmaker" was involved [probably my eldest uncle or my grandmother because my grandfather is deceased].

It's not too surprising that I too might have to go through an "o-miai"-type deal but I don't mind, really [It's more like, "connections" to the rich and introductions and hopefully they get married]. It just takes time to get used to. Mostly Western type wedding is Love, Sex, Family, then Money. But for my family, it was always Compatibility/Stability, Money, Children. Sounds kind of harsh and greedy, but that's how it is. Even if my grandmother, who is very strictly buddhist, lives modestly, my family is still one huge [evil?] corporation. [laughs].

I guess it is scary for women to be living single, as taehyun has mentioned, because of the difficulty of supporting whatever children that may have been conceived or even the woman herself. Men are traditionally seen as "working" while women are usually stay-at-home but many business such as my family have the "CEO" or Manager as women. Women are beginning to work more often now which is a good change for many in Japan.