(Stills from the 2005 film Tokyo Tower directed by Takashi Gen.) Not afraid of the world, not afraid of prejudice, just to be with you, even if it is a moment of happiness, I am willing to eat. ）
10-year marriage recollection
Wen | Junichi Watanabe translated | Shi Weiguo
Marriages are generally celebrated, and I don't want to be critical of them. If I had someone with this kind of marriage around me, I would have said on the spot, "Congratulations!"
Until recently, the annual marriage was constantly talked about, and I would like to share my personal opinion.
The people talk about the annual marriage, the biggest age difference is Mr. Kato Tea and a woman.
When they married, Mr. Kato was sixty-eight years old, and the woman was twenty-three years old, with an age difference of forty-five years.
Next up was Mr. Teradanou, who was sixty-eight years old, and a woman of thirty-three years old, a difference of thirty-five years. The difference between Mr. Masaaki Sakai, who is sixty-five years old, and a woman who is 43 years old, is twenty-two years old.
There is also Mr. Kuroda Arthur (fifty years old) and the manicurist (thirty-three years old), a difference of seventeen years. In addition, Mr. Katsumi Takahashi (49 years old) and his female companion (35 years old) are fourteen years apart.
There is also a difference of thirteen years between hairdressers (40 years old) and Ms. Yuko Andukura (27 years old), and Mr. Kenichi Ogino (60 years old) and Ms. Rika Tomita (48 years old) are 12 years apart.
These are big men and little women, the women are obviously young, the difference is more than ten to dozens of years old, I should say to all the men: congratulations!
In the Showa 1950s, Mr. Ken Uehara (65 years old) and Ms. Masami Obayashi (28 years old) were 37 years apart, and their marriage caused a sensation in society.
Marriages are generally celebrated, and I don't want to be critical of them. If I had someone with this kind of marriage around me, I would have said on the spot, "Congratulations!"
In any case, it is not easy to come together with young women who are dozens of years apart in age. Therefore, this is something to celebrate.
(Stills from the 1999 film "Dear You" directed by Lee Jin-seok.) True love can transcend age and worldly obstacles. ）
If someone asks me, "Can you do it?" To be honest, I had a hard time doing it. Of course, marriage is a matter for both parties, and others should not talk about it, at least I can't do it. Absolutely not.
If someone asks why, then I have a hard time answering, honestly, because men age easily.
Because now the average life expectancy of Men in Japan is eighty years, and the average life expectancy of women is eighty-six years. The difference in life expectancy between men and women is six years.
Men die six years earlier than women. Of course, this is the average value, some men are still healthy after the age of eighty, and many women have died in their seventies.
(Stills from the 2016 TV series "The Love of the Sages" directed by Takashi Gen.) The heroine's lover is the son of a friend, and the two are more than twenty years apart. ）
It's not that the average is absolute, usually, men age or die six or seven years earlier than women, which is a true fact.
What do men who marry this kind of annual difference feel and think about this difference? I would like to ask further: How do women who are married in years understand these situations?
I am now eighty years old and have reached the average life expectancy of Japanese men. So my hands, feet and shoulders are weak, and I can write normally for the time being. It should be said that it is quite passable, but the whole body is weak, it is difficult to walk fast, and it is impossible to play golf.
That is the reality. It is not only me who has this physical condition, but also some old friends and classmates, and nearly 30% of them have passed away.
And there are also many men, although still alive, but have suffered from cancer and other serious diseases, are still receiving treatment in hospitals.
In short, most men either die after the age of eighty, or are hospitalized, or treated on an outpatient basis. This is the status quo.
And what should women who are dozens of years younger do at this time? At this time, they are forty to sixty years old, which is the peak of middle age. They are still full of confidence in life, proactive in everything, and brave in activity.
(Stills from the 2006 film My Boss, My Hero directed by TomiZoto.) The feelings between men and women are always the authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear. ）
How can sick or hospitalized men cooperate with such women?
This kind of physical difference between men and women, the longer the age difference marriage, the more obvious, after the male age, the couple is completely unfit to live together.
Of course, this is not to say that all couples with annual differences will be like this. If the age of the man and woman in the marriage is reversed, the wife is ten years older than the husband, and it is easy to live together in the old age, and this is indeed the case.
Of course, if it is to let her take care of men in their old age and implement annual marriage, then it is another matter, if not, annual marriage is too cruel for elderly men, this is my real feeling. How do you think about these issues?
Many people may say that it doesn't matter what happens in the future, but the problem of "later" will come unexpectedly and rapidly.
Junichi Watanabe, born in 1933 in Hokkaido, Japan, has representative works such as Paradise Lost and Avatar. In his early years, he was a plastic surgeon and later abandoned the medical profession. "Love" or "Love and Sex" is the theme of his novels.
(This article is excerpted from the 2015 edition of Qingdao Publishing House, "Differences Between Men and Women", by Junichi Watanabe.) ）
For more exciting content, please pay attention to the WeChat public account: Talking about the daily record (duriben)