Back in the days of "there's gold in them thar hills," one of the prospectors' doleful refrains boasted the title "My Girlfriend's a Mule and a Mine." Across the Pacific and some 150 years on, I wouldn't be surprised if an echo of that plaintive air were not about to catch on among young Japanese males — retitled "My Girlfriend's a Modem and a Mobile."

As was reported in The Japan Times on Nov. 26, the findings of a survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research reveal some very telling statistics about the attitudes of young people in this country to unmarried and married life.

The institute, which now comes under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, began conducting similar surveys in 1940, though the second wasn't undertaken until 1952. Since then, there has been one survey every five years, and their findings are the best guide available to gauge Japanese attitudes toward the institution of marriage.