This paper describes a Japan that was hit hard by a natural disaster, which not only disrupted the country as such, but also interpersonal relationships. Based on an analysis of newspaper articles and a self-conducted survey, two phenomena regarding the understanding of marriage in Japan after the great earthquake of March 11, 2011 are examined. Both marriages and divorces at this time were motivated by the...

This paper describes a Japan that was hit hard by a natural disaster, which not only disrupted the country as such, but also interpersonal relationships. Based on an analysis of newspaper articles and a self-conducted survey, two phenomena regarding the understanding of marriage in Japan after the great earthquake of March 11, 2011 are examined. Both marriages and divorces at this time were motivated by the events surrounding the earthquake. The reasons for this are worked out in this work in order to draw a picture of Japanese society at that time.