[steven]

Wow, Nyororin you give some very good information about this stuff. I'd always wondered about this stuff. It seems like my perception was similar to what a lot of non-japanese have: getting an abortion in Japan is "guilt-free" and "easy". At approx. 40万, I think the "easy" part of my assessment is wrong. That's without mentioning all the hoops you have to go through!

This helps me understand a little better why there seem to be so many 出来ちゃった結婚 recently. I know that kind of thing happens in America and didn't think it happeend in Japan, but I learned that prhase almost immediately after coming to Japan. That kind of thing seems to not only be common, but it seems to be like it's getting to be the majority (purely speculation). The fact that abortions are so hard makes this situation more understandable to me.

Also, I remember seeing a video a few years ago (it's older than just a few years... maybe late 80's or early 90's) about this kind of thing (American Service men in Japan). It specifically talked about WWII and Korea. It had a lot of interviews of the kids and grandkids-- the so called "halfs". While the video focused on the linguistics of the word "half" and the meaning behind it, it had a lot of insight of this topic during that time period.

Also, just last night I was reading a book called "The Stragglers" which is about a man's experience in the Korean War. At any rate, he briefly (and I mean briefly) touched on the situation back then. I don't have the book on me so I can't quote it, but he said that (obviously from his "American" POV) the Japanese women loved the servicemen and the families of these women would let the service men in their homes and basically become a part of their family. I can't imagine how devistated that family would become if that serviceman were to basically pack up and leave. Culturally speaking I feel like that would make you the embarassment of the neighborhood. On a lighter note, I had a good chuckle imagining American servicemen circa 1950 encountering a Japanese families... circa 1950. Imagine the communication that happened between the parties!! If only they had portable video cameras and youtube back then. It's not like these servicemen knew ANYTHING about Japan and the culture before they got there.