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The story
According to a survey by Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, the share of men who want “economic power” in a marriage partner has doubled from 26.7% in 1992 to 55.6% in 2025. Drawing on these results, Kazuhisa Arakawa points out that the emphasis on “economic power” — long considered a female trait — has grown stronger among men too, while the share of women who prioritize a partner’s “looks” has also risen, narrowing the gap in attitudes between the sexes. In a 5channel thread, posters traded frank opinions and jabs from both the male and female side over height and income benchmarks, with views split on whether it’s right to pick a partner by checklist at all.
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Among men, the share who place importance on or consider a partner’s “economic power” has risen (from 26.7% in the 1992 survey to 55.6% in the 2025 survey)
Source: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Even that "ideal" 175cm alone puts you in the top 25% of Japanese men.
I wonder if the women demanding it are actually in the top 25% themselves.
I'm 164cm, so with a 12+cm gap I'd want at least 176cm.
My own brother is taller than that too, so it's a fair match.
I'm a matchmaking pro. The male equivalent of a woman's breasts is muscle. Women are generally more popular if they're well-endowed, but not having that isn't a huge deduction. Height works differently for men, though — being short is a major deduction. The physical trait that's not a big deduction if missing, but boosts your popularity if you have it, is muscle.
Both men and women with more education tend to be taller.
Kids of tall, highly-educated parents
tend to end up tall and highly-educated too.
Not saying short/less-educated people are inferior, but of course people who excel academically or athletically skew tall and highly educated.
60 Anonymous Donburako 2026/04/11(Sat) 16:50:17.20 ID:NcBMz7BF0
Re: #26
This is definitely a real thing.
Most of us are at a research lab for a major company mostly staffed by grads of the old imperial universities or Waseda/Keio, and about 20% of the guys in my department are 180cm+.
A lot of the women are over 165cm too.
Honestly, marriage has always made life easier for men, then and now, but I don't think it's ever made life easier for women.
Men want women even when they have money, but women don't necessarily want a man just because they have money.
That said, youth is relative too.
In other words, the most rational pairing is a guy in his late 40s to 50s whose income has climbed to a decent level of economic power, matched with a woman in her 30s to early 40s.
If more good-looking, high-earning couples form, the next generation will probably be capable too.
That's because we've kept repeating this, and this is the result.
In the end a relative gap always emerges.
There's probably always been roughly this much inequality, in every era.
Even in the nightlife industry, women at high-end clubs are all stylish beauties.
Conversely, low-income men tend to prefer shorter women, with a leaning toward very young-looking types ("loli" preference).
That's just new money talking.
Old wealthy families have always done arranged/strategic marriages.
Smart women figure this out as early as middle school.
Get into a university ranked MARCH or above (a tier of respected private universities: Meiji, Aoyama Gakuin, Rikkyo, Chuo, Hosei) and land a job at a major company, and you'll meet men of the same caliber.
But being a low-income high-school grad yourself while demanding the "three highs" (tall, highly educated, high income) from men — objectively, that's beyond just selfish.
followed by "rich," then "someone who draws attention and stands out."
Shimiken would be all set if he were just a bit taller 😅
In the end, splitting the roles — one earning outside, one on housework and childcare — is just easier for a couple either way.
If she's too short, some men will be turned off no matter how pretty her face is.
Because the kid could end up short too — even with the father's tall genes, there's a risk it turns out like Tanukana (a Japanese pro wrestler/TV personality).
like the husband getting fired, or the wife turning into an old hag.
That's a kid talking, they don't understand anything. It's basically playing house (lol).
Not many men actually seem to want a tall woman, and not many seem to want a highly-educated one either.
The real "big three" would probably be:
– Pretty or cute
– Has a stable, well-paying skilled job (like a nurse)
– Young
an unattractive man vs. an unattractive woman —
who has it easier in life?
As long as she's not past her prime yet, unless she's seriously unattractive, women are plenty popular.
The average income gap between men and women is over 2.5 million yen, so "average income" means different amounts depending on which one you are.
Women have less risk, which is probably why they're so eager.
The triple crown of alimony, separation-period support payments, and property division is brutal.
Women are the risk, if anything.
Men only get married because they want to.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research surveys unmarried men and women every five years, and the shifting criteria people seek in a spouse have long been tracked as a fixed-point data series. The numbers cited here show that the share of men who place importance on or consider “economic power” has doubled over roughly 30 years — but note this reflects “important/considered” responses, not “essential” ones, so it doesn’t necessarily mean this is the top priority in actual partner selection. The thread tended to fixate on easily quantified conditions like height and income, but the heart of Arakawa’s point is the shift itself: men’s and women’s attitudes converging. The backdrop to this stronger emphasis on conditions likely includes structural economic changes around marriage, such as the rise of dual-income households and a climbing lifetime unmarried rate — though those structural factors barely came up in the thread.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Express+) thread “[Marriage Crisis Era] Share of Men Seeking Economic Power in a Spouse Doubles, Share of Women Seeking Looks Now Matches Men’s — Kazuhisa Arakawa.”
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