While some people may see the Japanese adult adoption as wrong or just plain weird, studies have found that it is a very effective way of keeping family businesses healthy over long periods of time. According to The New Economy, "adopting highly qualified adults to head family businesses has the triple effect of displacing untalented blood heirs, eliciting better performance from managers who stand to be placed on a fast-track to ownership by becoming an adopted son, and encouraging proactivity among blood heirs who live under constant threat of being replaced by a 'superior' adopted son."
虽然有人认为日本的成人收养制度是不正确的,甚至非常诡异,但研究发现,这是家族企业长期维持下去的极有效方法.据《新经济》杂志称,"收养高素质的成年人领导家族企业具有一箭三雕的效果,这样可以取代没有才能的血亲继承人,而成为养子是继承公司的捷径,这点会促使作为管理者的养子表现更加出色,随时可能被"更优秀"养子取代的威胁还会激励血亲继承人提高工作积极性."
Today, there are a host of matchmaking companies and marriage consultants specializing in recruiting adult adoptees for Japanese companies. "There is definitely demand because the birth rate in Japan has been falling and many parents just have a daughter," says Chieko Date, the founder of a matchmaking site for woman looking for husbands willing to get adopted by their families. "And many men are looking for opportunities to use their business skills outside the corporate world because in this economy, climbing up the corporate ladder is much harder."
如今,有很多婚介公司和婚恋顾问专门为日本企业招收成年养子.伊达千惠是一家婚介网站的创始人,该网站为女性寻找愿被其家族收养的丈夫.伊达千惠说,"因为日本的出生率一直在下降,而许多夫妻只有一个女儿,所以肯定有需求.许多男人都希望在企业世界之外的天空施展自己的商业技能,因为在这种经济体制中升迁要困难得多."
Prospective voluntary adoptees obviously have a lot to gain from this as well. Not only are they awarded a high executive honor, but their families are often rewarded with large sums of money for accepting that their heir give up the family name and take on that of the adopters. It's a good business deal, especially for families with multiple male heirs.
自愿被收养的潜在养子显然也能获利不少.他们不仅能得到高管职位,而且他们的家庭通常还会因为家族继承人放弃自己的姓氏而接受收养人的姓氏而获得巨额奖励.这是一笔好买卖,尤其是对于有多个家族继承人的家庭来说.
"I see no problem in changing my family name because I see it as a nickname given by the government for the family registry," says Tsunemaru Tanaka, who signed up for Date's website. "I am confident that my skills can be useful so if there is a chance for me to inherit a family business and make it successful, that would be good for everyone."
该网站注册用户田中纲丸表示,"我不介意更改姓氏,因为我认为名字就是政府在家庭登记时给每个人的代号.我相信自己能够有所作为,因此如果我有机会继承并成功经营一个家族企业,那对所有人都会是好事儿."
But while many Japanese families turn to adult adoption as a pragmatic way of preserving their name and legacy, child adoption in the country is almost taboo. "It's an incredibly sad situation," Eriko Takahashi, Program Director of Disability and Social Welfare at Nippon Foundation, told Tokyo Weekly. "In Japan roughly 39,000 kids are in care right now; however, only around 300 adoptions are arranged through the child advisory services annually. Then there are about 100 through private bodies. It is nowhere near enough."
许多家庭把收养成人作为延续其姓氏和财产的一种务实方式,但收养儿童在日本似乎却是禁忌."这是个很可悲的现状,"日本财团残疾与社会福利项目负责人高桥理子对《东京周刊》表示,"日本现在大约有39000名需要照看的孩子；然而每年通过儿童咨询服务中心收养的儿童仅约300名.通过私人机构收养的儿童约为100名.但这是远远不够的."
And when they do decide to adopt children, Hajime Youji claims that it is almost never a complete stranger's child. "It's always a case of adoption from relative with too many kids," he writes on Quora.
鹰志肇在Quora上表示,当人们决定要领养孩子时,几乎没有人领养陌生人的孩子."人们一般都从孩子太多的亲戚那里收养."
英文来源：OddityCentral
