I have always been curious about how age difference in relationships are veiwed in other countries. What is it like for the Japanese?

For example: A 20 year old woman with a 30 year old man, and such?
What if its an older woman with a younger man?
Is there an acceptable/frowned upon age difference?



I guess a good example to weigh this against is here in America in the state I live in Maine, If the guy is about 10 years older than the girl than it's ok. However if it starts to go over this it becomes more and more awkward for the couple.

Anyway thank you in advance for you response.

It depends on the people and the situation how it would be viewed here..


But maybe you should be going to Philippines instead..

Sorry I think this was misunderstood. I'm not out to find a relationship or anything like that. I have always been curious about japanese culture and wanted to know if there was a difference between how this was veiwed in Japan as opposed to the US.

If ever I decided to make a trip to Japan it would be for going to see the old castles and just general travel, and Sumo.. Always wanted to go see a Sumo match.

Sorry if I caused confusion with my question.

Human relationships are not easy at the best of times, especially when partners are of differing ethnic origin,because you have family and extended family on each side,to consider the implications of any relationship, or for that matter a simple friendship,Japan is a very nationalistic and ordered society where in most cases the group matters,especially family and extended family,this also extends to the workplace where things are usually done as a group,perhaps this is a kind of Beehive mentality that Westerners and others find very hard to mentally get their head around,when in the Western society many functions are based on the individual working and functioning alone,Japanese are usually very polite and orderly,there are some exceptions to this,but usually a drastic loss of face returns these people to (normal) traditional Japanese values.

i agree, it all depends.

as far as different age relationships, for some reason i seem to recall seeing more instances of older guys with younger women, but that's just my own experience. overall, i think most people tend to stick to around the same age.

on the other hand, my girlfriend is almost 7 years older than i am..her parents frowned upon us at first, but that could've also been because i am an American, former military AND younger.

age is relative. there are plenty of mature thinking 20 year olds and just as many immature 30 and 40 year olds..

however, i also agree that it seems like doing anything too out of the ordinary puts Japanese at risk of losing face, and that MAY be one reason to date/marry in the same age range, but this topic is something i'll have to ask more people about after my move.

thanks for bringing this subject up.