on 11/3/01 5:21 PM, Nuki Mouse <nukmouse@bellatlantic.net> wrote:

 I need some help with a story. It involves a character getting pregnant out
of wedlock (in Japan).  How would her friends treat her?  Her enemies?  The
neighbors?  How would she be treated in school?  Is there a common practice
(or clich�'s) used to cover up an unwanted pregnancy?  Is abortion even legal
in Japan? How does some one get one?  what is the stigma that goes along with
that?  
Please if you can answer one or more of these questions I would be greatly
thankful!

Abortion is legal in Japan, and quite common. My understanding is it is
considered better to have an abortion than to have an embarrassing child.
People do feel bad about it, and there is a Buddhist ceremony called "mizuko
kuyo" to appease the spirit of the aborted fetus (and make the parents feel
better). There's a reasonable description of the whole thing and some of the
historical background here:

http://sass.home.texas.net/research/japanabort.htm

I get the impression that while abortion is still a difficult decision in
Japan, the feelings of guilt associated with having one are less than in
Western societies. I'm not an expert, though.

How a woman who was impregnated out of wedlock was treated would depend a
lot on how it happened, I would think. If it were through carelessness,
they'd think you were a twit. If you were raped or taken advantage of, I
think you'd get sympathy and no one would think poorly of you if you had an
abortion. This is just my guessing based on my knowledge of Japanese
culture, not an expert, informed opinion.

As for covering up a pregnancy, well, you can only do that for so long. :-)
I imagine that before abortion was widely available, people were as creative
about trying to cover it up as they are in other societies.

Debbie

	     .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'