Abstract
Since the 1980s in Japan, late marriage and non-marriage have become increasingly common, and the problem of decreasing birthrates has gained ever greater attention. In this social setting, the importance of research on “romantic love” before marriage has come to be recognized. However, studies of “romantic love” before marriage are still relatively few in number in the area of family sociology. This paper aims to consider the meaning of “romantic love” among young adults by focusing on their rhetoric and gender perspective. My data are based on four group discussions and semi-structured interviews with heterosexual single men and women born between 1983 and 1993.
