One in Four Divorces in Japan Are "Gray Divorces"... Here's Why

Divorces among couples married for at least 20 years hit a record high
Women file at twice the rate of men... "Incompatibility" ranks first

The share of so-called “gray divorces” among all divorces in Japan reached a record high last year.

On October 8, the Mainichi Shimbun reported, citing the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Vital Statistics, that divorces among couples who had lived together for at least 20 years accounted for 24.2% of all divorces last year. Known in Japan as “jukunen divorce,” the term is similar to “gray divorce” in South Korea.

There were 179,073 divorces across Japan last year, down 6,831 from 185,904 the year before. By contrast, the share of jukunen divorces among all divorces rose by 0.4 percentage points from the previous year to 24.2%. The share first exceeded 20% in 2019 and has continued to rise since.

According to the Judicial Statistics Annual Report, 26.4% of divorce cases involving the courts last year were filed by couples who had been married for at least 20 years. Women sought jukunen divorce at roughly twice the rate of men. For both men and women, the most common reason for divorce was “incompatibility.” Among women, the next most common reasons were “not providing money for living expenses” and “using violence.” Among men, the next most common reasons were “mental abuse” and “having a relationship with someone else.”

The spread of social networking services (SNS) and changing values have been cited as reasons for the rising share of jukunen divorces.

The Mainichi noted, “The spread of SNS has made it easier to obtain information about divorce and compare one’s situation with that of others.” It added, “A weakening of the traditional division of gender roles and of the belief that divorce is shameful has also contributed to the increase in jukunen divorces.” The newspaper further said, “Growing public awareness of domestic violence between spouses also appears to have contributed to the rise in jukunen divorces.”

A similar trend is also emerging in South Korea. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), divorces among couples who had been married for at least 30 years accounted for 17.7% of all divorces last year. There were 13,743 divorces in which both spouses were aged 60 or older. Statistics Korea defines divorce involving people aged 60 or older as “gray divorce.” This was an increase of 943 cases from the previous year and the highest figure since statistics were first compiled in 1990. The share of gray divorces among all divorces also reached a record high of 15.6%. The share of divorces involving people aged 60 or older fell from 13.4% in 2022 to 13.0% in 2023, before rising again to 14.0% in 2024 and 15.6% in 2025.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.