- What are "Parasite Singles"?
Orenstein' s article starts with a scene where she is waiting for her subject at arguably the most popular cafe in the fashionable Omotesando neighborhood in Tokyo. She observes young Japanese women in their 20's and 30's spilling out of stores with bags marked Gucci, Jil Sander, Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcons, wearing the latest in trendy fashion with the right makeup and of the-moment reddish brown hair, cell phone in hand. Few of these lavish spenders, Orenstein asserts, are married or want to be any time soon.
Orenstein reveals some surprising facts: "More than half of Japanese women are still single by 30, compared with about 37 percent of American women, and nearly all of them live at home with mom and dad." They are labeled as "Parasite Singles" after "Parasite Eve", a Japanese horror flick. (T)hey pay no rent, do no housework and come and go freely. Although they earn, on an average of just $27,000 a year, they are Japan's leading consumers since their entire income is disposable."
- The origin of the term "Parasite Singles" and Orenstein' s usage of it.
According to Zipangu's quick research on the Internet, the term "Parasite Singles" was first used by sociologist Masahiro Yamada in his article for Nikkei Newspaper on February 8, 1997. He wrote a best-selling book entitled "Parasaito Singuru no Jidai" (literally The Age of Parasite Singles, published by Chikuma Shinsho) in 1999.
A book review that appeared in Nikkei Business magazine (Oct 26, 2000) describes that Parasite Singles mean young singles, -- both men and women--, who cannot be independent from their parent' s household. They live with their parents. With no need to pay for basic living costs such as rent and food, they can spend all the their earnings for pleasure such as hobbies, leisure, brand merchandise, etc. In Japan the number of these young men and women has reached almost one million.
Yamada analyzes the phenomenon of parasite singles as a sign of the symptoms of an emerging social sickness. He feels that the multiplication of parasite singles is one of the causes of Japan's economic and moral downside. He claims that one example of their economic impact is decreasing demands of housing and electric equipment. Since the parasite singles share them with their parents, the total number of households doesn't increase. Parasite singles may contribute to the increasing consumption of value added merchandise such as brand goods. Yamada asserts that if this is the only economic contribution that the Parasite Singles can be credited for, it is just too trivial.
When Orenstein uses the term Parasite Singles in her New York Times article, she seems to write about only young single women, which is a distortion of the term. It is understandable that the focus of her article is on young women instead of men who are now liberated from traditional social pressure of marriage and do not show any intention to marry soon. However, the fact that Japanese male voices are strangely missing in her well-researched article may be problematic. The only two male interviewees are Yamada and a marketing expert whose business target includes the parasite women.