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It's all in the Name: Adoption in Japan

Why would families in Japan adopt grown men? Each year tens of thousands of people in Japan are adopted, many of them adults. Find out more in this week's Assignment.

It's a unique Japanese practice. Each year in Japan there are tens of thousands of unusual adoptions – very different from adoptions elsewhere in the world.

They're mostly of grown men, adopted by their wife's family, so that they can then take over the family business and keep the family name alive.

Mariko Oi has been to Japan to investigate.

She meets, among others, a famous Kabuki performer and the owner of a spa hotel, who runs the world's oldest family business.

(Image: A crowded street in Japan Credit: Getty Images)

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25 minutes

Last on

Sat 22 Sep 2012 21:05GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 20 Sep 2012 08:05GMT
  • Thu 20 Sep 2012 12:05GMT
  • Thu 20 Sep 2012 15:05GMT
  • Thu 20 Sep 2012 19:05GMT
  • Fri 21 Sep 2012 01:05GMT
  • Sat 22 Sep 2012 03:05GMT
  • Sat 22 Sep 2012 21:05GMT

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