Separation marriages or weekend marriages: A steadily growing trend in Japan wherein legally married couples live separately for positive reasons respecting each others’ lifestyles & values.

SEPARATION MARRIAGES OR WEEKEND MARRIAGES:A GROWING TREND

Separation Marriage is a form of marriage in which a couple is legally married but live separately. Unlike when couples live separately because they do not get along, there are many positive reasons for separation, such as seeking a better lifestyle while respecting each other’s lives and values. A weekend marriage, in which the couples live in one of their homes on weekends share each others feelings & responsibilities ,make planning for future life & finances! It is also included in a separate marriage, although they may live in completely separate residences. In a separate marriage, the couple lives within a distance that allows them to see each other by mutual decision.Weekend or separation marriage means the feeling of being single after getting married.This gives them a sense of freedom. People believe that emotional attachment remains with this, but at the same time, you get such a partner, whom you can trust blindly.

Article 752 of the Japanese Civil Code clearly states that “husband and wife shall live together and cooperate and support each other,” thus establishing the obligation of husband and wife to live together. However, this law states that temporary and unavoidable separation, such as moving to a distant location alone because of the job or returning home for childbirth, does not violate this provision.The key to calling it a “separation marriage” is that “both parties agree to it”.For the time being, no legal problems are expected to arise in the case of a separation marriage, since there will be no problem of one party making a unilateral decision and the other disagreeing with it.

In Japan, many people have a negative image when they hear the word “separation. ” & that a couple is living separately, they may think: “Isn’t that a sign that they’re on the verge of divorce?” or “Maybe the couple isn’t really getting along…” The fact that a couple is living apart from each other may give rise to unwarranted speculation. Along with the change of time, now a lot of change is being seen in the thinking of the people. The best example of this is Japan. Yes, of course, you read right. These days the trend of weddings has started changing in Japan. Weekend marriage is now trending in Japan. The surprising thing is that people in Japan live in their homes even after marriage. Not only this, people do not stay together even after being in one city.

Forms of Separated Marriage:

1)The couple lives in the same apartment building & spend time together: For example, the couple may rent separate rooms in the same apartment building or live nearby. A couple may live close to each other and have dinners and or spend the weekends and holidays together.

2)The couple spend only weekend together :In this style, the couple basically lives separately on weekdays and together only on weekends. This is also called a “weekend marriage.”

Reasons for choosing a separation marriage :Because they are worried about living together from the begining. For example, if they get married only a short time after they have known each other & the couple is not sure if they will be able to get along well if they live together, they may choose a separation marriage. In such a case they may choose to have a weekend marriage first, and then move on to live together later. In some cases, couple may live separately for a set period of time & then move in together, while in other cases, they may continue to live separately for a long period of time.

Advantages of  Separation Marriage :

1)You can cherish your own time.

A major advantage of a separated marriage is that you can cherish your time alone without worrying about the rhythm of your partner’s life. An increasing number of couples are choosing to live apart because they want to devote more time to their work.

2)You are less likely to feel differences in values.

No matter how much you love each other, differences in values are bound to occur. Especially when living together, you may feel uncomfortable with small differences in lifestyle. When married, it is easy to find minor differences in values in each other’s lives. However, in a separation marriage, by not living together, it is difficult to feel small differences in values.

3)People get a feeling of being single.
However, the people here, of course, live separately from each other after marriage. But they respect each other’s feelings. Along with respecting each other’s feelings, they make plans for the future. Apart from this, people also do financial planning together. A woman says that she loves her husband very much but their lifestyles are very different. She gets up at 4 in the morning and her husband sleeps till 8 in the morning. We both live comfortably without compromising our freedom. 4)The couple lives separately in their own homes, maintaining their own lifestyle and prioritising what’s important to them – whether that’s their job, social life, hobbies or childcare!

But living separately has its disadvantages :
1)A Japanese woman says that she does not get the help of her husband in raising her child. Along with this, I have to do all the household work alone.

2) Both men and women need to be financially strong in a weekend marriage! It means that both need to earn to feel financially strong.

3) Some people have different logic on weekend marriage. They say that even after marriage, if you have to do all the work from washing clothes to cooking, then what is the use of marriage?

Conclusion:

Separation marriages are marriages in which the spouses live in separate residences and continue their married life together. More and more couples are intentionally living separately in order to maintain good marital relations, not with the intention of getting a divorce, but with mutual consent. Some people may say, “If they are married, why take the trouble of having a separate marriage?  However, couples who intentionally choose to live apart from their spouses say that they are able to deepen their bond and respect their own lives because of their “Separation marriages”. A serious debate is needed to study the positives & negatives of this novel concept.

My valued readers may kindly participate by commenting ,giving their opinions & views on “The future of Separation Marriages trend “ for a healthy debate on this issue pertaining to the important Institution of life- Marriage.In anticipation for your much valued response…

My dear readers may kindly point out any incorrect information in my above writeup needing any corrections! I am truly indebted to Wikipedia & for the invaluable information on the subject !Happy Reading !