原文译文
1. Last year, the number of couples getting married hit the lowest level since the end of World War II, according to government estimates. It was the sixth straight year of decline in the nation’s marriage rate, which is falling at a much faster clip than the drop in Japan’s population overall.
据政府估计，去年，结婚人数降至第二次世界大战结束以来的最低水平。这是这个国家的结婚率连续六年呈下降趋势，下降速度超过了日本总人口的降幅。
2. Not surprisingly, the number of births in Japan — a country where few people have children out of wedlock — is also tumbling. Last year, the number of babies born in the country fell to the lowest level since at least 1899, when record-keeping began.
不意外的是，在日本这个少有人选择婚外生育的国家，生育率也在大幅下降。去年，日本出生的婴儿数量降到了1899年开始有这项记录以来的最低点。
3. Local governments, eager to encourage marriage and raise fertility, have started campaigns to bring couples together. “We are working on fostering a mind for marriage,” reads an ad for matchmaking tours and seminars for singles sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
地方政府迫切想要鼓励婚姻、提高生育率，开始发起促使情侣结合到一起的活动。“我们致力于培养婚姻的观念，”东京都政府赞助的单身人士婚介之旅及研讨会的一则广告上写道。
4. But for more and more Japanese women — who have traditionally been circumscribed by their relationships with men, children and other family members — singlehood represents a form of liberation.
“When they marry, they have to give up so many things,” said Mari Miura, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, “so many freedoms and so much independence.”
但对于越来越多的日本女性，单身代表着获得解放的一种形式——传统上，她们一直被限制在与丈夫、子女及其他家庭成员的关系中。“结婚时，她们得放弃太多，”东京上智大学（Sophia University）政治学教授三浦麻里（Mari Miura，音）说，“太多的自由和太多的独立。”
5. The shift is tied to the changing Japanese workforce. Close to 70% of women ages 15 to 64 now have jobs — a record. But their careers are often held back by a relentless tide of domestic burdens, like filling out the meticulous daily logs required by their children’s day care centers, preparing the intricate meals often expected of Japanese women, supervising and signing off on homework from school and after-school tutoring sessions, or hanging rounds of laundry — because few households have electric dryers.
这种转变关联到日本不断变化的劳动力。如今，15岁至64岁的女性就业比例接近70%，这是一项纪录。但她们的职业生涯往往受困于一波波无休止的家务负担，像按子女日托中心的要求填写划分细致的日志，准备大家都觉得日本女性应该会做的精致餐食，指导并签署学校和校外辅导课程布置的家庭作业，或者晾晒一堆堆洗好的衣服——因为有烘干机的家庭很少。
6. While some men say they want to pitch in more and the government has urged businesses to reform the crushing work culture, employees are still expected to devote most of their waking hours to the company, making it difficult for many husbands to participate much on the home front.
“It’s so obvious for a lot of women who have jobs that it’s very difficult to find a man who is available to be a caretaker in the family,” said Kumiko Nemoto, a professor of sociology at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.
尽管一些男性表示，他们想多投入家庭事务，政府也敦促企业改革压迫性的职场文化，但对员工的期待仍然是把大部分醒着的时间奉献给公司，这使得很多丈夫很难多参与家庭事务。“对很多在职女性而言，显然很难找到一个能分担家庭事务的男性，”京都外国语大学（Kyoto University of Foreign Studies）社会学教授根本宫美子（Kumiko Nemoto）说。
7. Japan’s consumption-oriented culture also means that single women with careers and money have a wide range of activities and emotional outlets that their mothers or grandmothers did not, Nemoto added. And, notably, Japanese women no longer need husbands to ensure their economic security.
根本宫美子还说，日本的消费导向文化也意味着，有事业、有钱的单身女性有母亲或祖母一辈所没有的多种活动和情感宣泄渠道可供选择。此外很显然，日本女性不再需要丈夫提供经济保障。
8. “One reason to get married for a woman is to have a stable financial life,” said Miki Matsui, 49, a director at a Tokyo publishing house. “I don’t have any worries about being alone with myself or any financial worries. So I did not have to chase myself into a corner and choose marriage for financial reasons.”
“女性结婚的一个原因在于可以有稳定的经济生活，”东京一家出版社社长、49岁的松井美纪（Miki Matsui，音）说。“我对独自生活没什么担忧，也没有经济上的顾虑。所以不需要把自己逼到墙角，出于经济原因而选择婚姻。”
9. Women who are not interested in having children often see little point in marriage. Though single motherhood is on the rise in Japan, it is largely due to divorce rather than women choosing to have children on their own.
对生儿育女不感兴趣的女性常常觉得结婚没太大意义。虽然日本单身母亲数量在上升，但很大程度上是由于离婚，而非女性选择独自生育孩子。
10. “It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that people in Japan get married because they want to have kids,” said Mary C. Brinton, a professor of sociology at Harvard University who focuses on contemporary Japan. “If you’re not going to have kids, there are fewer reasons to get married in Japan.”
“说日本人是为生孩子而结婚并不是很夸张，”哈佛大学专门研究当代日本的社会学教授玛丽·C·布林顿（Mary C. Brinton）说。“在日本，如果你不打算生孩子，那么结婚的理由就不多了。”
11. Being single comes with trade-offs, too. Hanaoka, the woman who held a solo wedding last year, shares a ramshackle house on the outskirts of Tokyo with two roommates. When loneliness creeps in, she pulls up the video of her ceremony to remind her of the people who support and love her.
单身也是需要付出代价的。去年举办单身婚礼的花冈在东京郊外和两名室友合租着一所破败的房子。孤独来袭的时候，她会点开单身仪式的视频，回想一下那些支持她、疼爱她的人。
12. Hanaoka also recalls that, when she was growing up, her mother often seemed unhappy. Then, after college, she taught kindergarten, giving her a firsthand look at how many mothers seemed to be “trying too hard to take care of their own children, but not taking care of themselves.”
花冈还记得，小时候母亲常常看上去闷闷不乐。后来大学毕业后在幼儿园教书期间，她亲身目睹了有多少母亲似乎“太过努力要照顾自己孩子，却没有照顾好她们自己。”
13. “If I become a mother,” Hanaoka said, “I am afraid that I will be expected to act in the mother role that is demanded by Japanese society, rather than being myself.”
She has dated on and off, lives frugally and, relishing her freedom, took a trip to Mexico last fall. “I would rather do what I want to do right now,” she said.
 “如果我当了母亲，”花冈说，“我担心我会被期望按照母亲的角色行事，而不是做我自己。”她断断续续有些约会，生活节俭，也尽情享受着自由，去年秋天体验了一次墨西哥之旅。 “我宁愿现在就去做我想做的事，”她说。
精读解析
篇章结构
P1—P2：日本结婚人数下降，导致生育率也在下降。
P3：地方政府迫切想要鼓励婚姻、提高生育率，开始发起促使情侣结合到一起的活动。
P4—P10：这部分都在说日本女性选择独身的原因。下面进行分点说明：
P4—P6：日本女性将单身视为获得解放和自由的一种形式，因为结婚会使她们承担太多的东西。
P7：单身女性拥有多种活动和更多的情感宣泄渠道。
P8：越来越多的日本女性获得经济独立，不需要在婚姻中寻找依靠。
P9—P10：如果对孩子没有兴趣，选择结婚的意义不大。
 
P11—P13：虽然选择独身需要付出代价，即会感到孤独，但是花冈还是觉得独身更好。（以花岗的例子结尾，和文章开始以花岗的独身婚礼开始前后呼应，同时在这里也是以花岗的选择——保持独身来代表大多数日本女性的选择。）
重点单词
tumble /'t?mb(?)l/ v. 翻滚; 突然摔倒
【短语】
tumble home
vt. 内倾
tumble in
嵌入
tumble to
v. 恍然大悟
【例句】
The boy tumbled down the stairs.
这男孩从楼梯上跌下来。
sponsor /'sp?ns?/ vt. 赞助, 发起, 主办
【例句】
The exhibition was sponsored by the Society of Culture.
这个展览会是由文化学会主办的。
circumscribe /'s??k?mskra?b/vt. 在…周围划线; 划定…范围;限制,限定
【例句】
The principal has requested all teachers to circumscribe failures in red on the report cards.
校长要求所有老师把成绩单上不及格者用红笔圈起来。
hold back 退缩；隐瞒；抑制；阻止
【例句】
Nothing can hold back the wheel of history.   
没有什么能够阻止历史的车轮。
relentless /r?'lentl?s/ adj. 残酷的, 不留情的, 无怜悯心的
【例句】
He was relentless in asking for compensation.
他冷酷无情地要求赔偿。
meticulous/m?'t?kj?l?s/ adj. 极仔细的; 一丝不苟的
【例句】
The editor kept on checking spelling mistakes meticulously.
编辑继续仔细检查拼写错误。
intricate/'?ntr?k?t/ adj. 错综复杂的
【例句】
The TV series has an intricate plot.
这部电视连续剧情节错综复杂。
supervise /'su?p?va?z/ vt. & vi. 监督, 管理
【例句】
The architect supervised the building of the house.
建筑师监督这房子的施工。
sign off v. 停止活动；停止广播；签出；签字保证
【例句】
Only tenuously linked to any civilian institution, they are above the law and sign off on virtually all big decisions.  
只要与任何文人机关扯上一点关连，他们的地位就高于法律并实际上签署所有重大决定。
pitch in 参与；投入；作出贡献【例句】
The agency says international relief agencies also have pitched in.
该机构说国际救援机构也提供了支援。
emotional/?'m???(?)n(?)l/ adj. 表现强烈情感的, 令人动情的
【例句】
He is emotional and unpredictable.
他好感情用事，且变化无常。
outlet/'a?tlet/ n. 出口, 出路；发泄的途径
【例句】
Art is a sublime outlet for feelings.
艺术是一种崇高的宣泄情感的方式。
consumption-oriented 消费导向的
注:-oriented …导向的；如：
culture-oriented 文化导向的
exaggeration/iɡ,z?d??'rei??n/ n. 夸张,夸大
【例句】
He also corrects exaggerations, misapprehensions and simplifications.
作者同样纠正了一些对历史的夸大、误解和简单化现象。
contemporary/k?n'temp(?)r(?r)?/ adj. 当代的；同时代的, 同属一个时期的
【短语】
be contemporary with
与...同时代
【例句】
Contemporary cars are more streamlined than older ones.
当代轿车比旧时轿车更具流线型。
trade-off/'treid?f,-?:f/ n. 交换,协定,交易,平衡
【例句】
As they gained credibility, the trade-off between inflation and unemployment weakened.
随着它们赢得了信誉，通胀和失业之间的那种取舍弱化了。
creep in 悄悄混进；悄悄潜入
【例句】
The mansion we slept in was one that I crept in， the way I get laid is through deceit.
我们夜宿于我私闯的民宅，我欺骗良家妇女。
relish/'rel??/ n. 滋味；风味；食欲；开胃小菜；含义v. 喜爱；品味；给…加佐料
【例句】
He was relishing his moment of glory.
他正在享受他的光荣时刻。
on and off 断断续续地，不时地
【例句】
We saw each other on and off for about two years.
我们断断续续在一起大概有两年时间吧。
重点句子Hanaoka, the woman who held a solo wedding last year, shares a ramshackle house on the outskirts of Tokyo with two roommates.
这个句子的主干是：Hanaoka shares a ramshackle house on the outskirts of Tokyo with two roommates.中间的the woman who held a solo wedding last year是Hanaoka的同位语，说明Hanaoka到底是谁，这部分同时还有一个whoUI拿到的定语从句，说明the woman的具体信息。
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