I am currently writing a fic in which two of the characters will be
getting divorced.  This may be a stupid question, but I felt it better to
find out for sure before writing the fic and getting everything messed up.
What I want to know is if divorce is a regular practice in Japan?  Is even
legal?  If it is legal, is it viewed as something dishonorable?  Are the
recipients of the divorce viewed normally or as some sort of shamed outcast?

**Divorce in Japan is rare, but growing.  In an April study done by the
Asahi Shimbun, it was discovered that the divorce rate in Japan for 1997
was 12 percent, 4 times that of the previous year.
   As for stigmas, if the man initiates a divorce, it is a scandal, but not
a serious issue.  When a woman does, it is considered very scandalous, but
that same survey found that those attitudes are changing as well.
   Most people after divorce tend to move far from their old residences,
where they would be shamed; in their new neighborhoods, if it isn't known,
there is no stigma, assuming the neighbors are progressive in thought.
   For more information on this, see the archives at 
http://www.asahi.com (The Asahi Shimbun's English Website)

--Rob (detaching C7F on Jul 22nd!  YESSSSSS!!!!!!)
===================================================
n5yn@c7f.navy.mil  calicatcafe@geocities.com  ashita@rocketmail.com
Nihongo no email: ashita@daruma.co.jp
The California Cat Cafe Online:
http://www.geocities.com/~calicatcafe
===================================================
Tadzunetsuru			Being on my way to pay a visit, 
Hana ka tote koso		I found that which I took to be a flower,
Hi wo kurase			Therefore, here I spend the day...
Akenu ni otoru			Why in that time before dawn that dawn-blush
Akane sasuran?			   tint should glow--
				That, indeed, I know not.

--from the Japanese fairytale  The Tale of Aoyagi