Average Age at First Marriage by Prefecture in JapanThe Latest Ranking, With Tokyo Highest and Shimane Lowest for Both Husbands and Wives

How much does the age at which people first marry differ across Japan? The national average age at first marriage sometimes appears in the news, but how many years apart the prefectures are, and whether the gap has grown or shrunk over time, is rarely discussed.

This article uses the latest final vital statistics published by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on 30 September 2026 (data for 2025) to rank all 47 prefectures by the average age at first marriage for husbands and wives^[1]. It also looks at trends since 1950, how regional gaps have changed, the age gap between husbands and wives, and mothers' age at the birth of their first child. There is no right or wrong age to marry; the figures here are simply averages for people who married for the first time in a given year.

1. The short answer: Tokyo is highest and Shimane lowest, for both husbands and wives

• Nationally, the average age at first marriage in 2025 was 31.0 for husbands and 29.7 for wives, both 0.1 years lower than the year before (31.1 and 29.8)^[7].
• Tokyo is highest for both, at 32.0 for husbands and 30.6 for wives. Saitama and Kanagawa share second place for husbands (31.6), and Kanagawa is second for wives (30.2)^[5][6].
• Shimane is lowest for both, at 29.7 for husbands and 28.7 for wives, followed by Miyazaki for husbands (29.9) and Okayama for wives (28.9).
• The gap between the highest and lowest prefectures is 2.3 years for husbands and 1.9 years for wives. For husbands 45 of the 47 prefectures, and for wives all of them, are within one year of the national average.
• Greater Tokyo and northern Kanto are near the top; Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu are common near the bottom. Prefectures with few marriages move a lot from year to year, so small differences in rank should be read loosely.

What the average age at first marriage measures

Japan's vital statistics are compiled from marriage notifications filed with municipal offices. The final figures cover Japanese nationals who married in Japan^[3]. Detailed prefectural tables are published on e-Stat, the government's statistics portal^[9].

The average age at first marriage is the mean age of people marrying for the first time, taken as the earlier of their age at the wedding ceremony and their age when they started living together. It covers only couples who began living together in a given year and filed their notification in that same year^[5]. Couples who had been living together since an earlier year and filed this year, for example, are not included.

Prefectures are assigned by the husband's address at the time of filing^[3]. The wife's average age is also counted in the prefecture of the husband's address. Published figures have one decimal place, so many prefectures share the same value; this article gives them the same rank. A tenth of a year is a little over a month.

The latest national figures: 31.0 for husbands and 29.7 for wives in 2025, with 489,158 marriages

The national average age at first marriage peaked at 31.2 for husbands in 2019 and 29.8 for wives in 2024, and stood at 31.0 and 29.7 in 2025^[7]. Including remarriages, the average age at marriage was 33.8 for husbands and 31.9 for wives.

There were 489,158 marriages in 2025, 4,066 more than the year before^[2]. Marriage rates by prefecture (marriages per 1,000 people) are due in November 2026, once the population figures they depend on are available^[2].

2. The full ranking: Greater Tokyo and northern Kanto at the top, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu at the bottom

Husbands (men)

Wives (women)

Ages in years, from the ministry's final vital statistics, volume 1, marriage, Table 9.12^[5][6]. Ranks run from highest to lowest, with equal values sharing a rank. The 2024 ranks are calculated the same way.

The top: Tokyo and its neighbours

The top husbands' figures are Tokyo (32.0), Saitama and Kanagawa (31.6), Gunma and Chiba (31.3) and Ibaraki (31.2): the four prefectures of Greater Tokyo plus Gunma and Ibaraki in northern Kanto. Eight prefectures are above the national figure (31.0), or 11 including those equal to it.

The top wives' figures are Tokyo (30.6), Kanagawa (30.2), Saitama and Nara (30.0) and Chiba (29.9). Nara is 12th for husbands (30.9) but third for wives. Seven prefectures are above the national figure (29.7), and another seven are equal to it.

The bottom: Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu

The lowest husbands' figures are Shimane (29.7), Miyazaki (29.9), Yamaguchi (30.0), and Tottori, Okayama, Kagawa and Saga (30.1). For wives they are Shimane (28.7), Okayama (28.9), and Tottori, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa and Miyazaki (29.0).

For both sexes, most prefectures sit in a gentle slope between Tokyo at the top and Shimane at the bottom. Only two prefectures, Shimane and Miyazaki, fall outside one year either side of the national average for husbands (30.0 to 32.0). For wives no prefecture falls outside that range (28.7 to 30.7); Shimane is exactly at its edge.

3. A single year's rank moves easily: Shimane went from 30th to 47th

Shimane, last for both sexes in 2025, was 30th for husbands (30.5) and 28th for wives (29.3) in 2024^[5][6]. In one year the figures fell 0.8 years for husbands and 0.6 for wives, and the ranks dropped to the bottom. In 2023 they were 30.0 (46th) and 28.9 (47th), so Shimane was also near the bottom two years earlier.

The fewer the marriages, the more the average swings

An average based on few people moves more with who happens to marry in a given year. In 2025 there were 79,510 marriages (including remarriages) in Tokyo, against 1,735 in Tottori, the fewest, 1,951 in Kochi and 1,988 in Shimane^[4]. The number of people counted in the average age at first marriage, those marrying for the first time who began living together and filed in the same year, is smaller still.

Averaging the size of year-on-year changes from 2009 to 2025, when figures are published every year, the largest for husbands are in Kochi (0.23 years), Shimane (0.22) and Fukushima (0.21), and the smallest in Mie (0.08), Aichi (0.08), Miyagi (0.09) and Tokyo (0.10). For wives, Akita (0.24) and Shimane (0.23) move most, and Osaka (0.08), Gifu (0.09) and Aichi (0.09) least. Broadly, prefectures with more marriages move less from year to year.

Other notable moves in 2025: husbands in Tochigi went from 31.4 (5th) to 30.9 (12th), wives in Akita from 29.3 (28th) to 29.8 (6th), and wives in Nara from 29.7 (8th) to 30.0 (3rd).

Averaging three years leaves the top and bottom much the same

To smooth out single-year swings, this article took a simple average of the published figures for 2023 to 2025 (an unweighted reference calculation, not an official figure).

• Husbands: highest are Tokyo (32.17), Kanagawa (31.70), Saitama (31.67), Chiba (31.43) and Ibaraki (31.27); lowest are Shimane and Miyazaki (30.07), Okayama and Saga (30.13) and Yamaguchi (30.17).
• Wives: highest are Tokyo (30.67), Kanagawa (30.27), Saitama (30.03), Chiba (29.93) and Kyoto (29.90); lowest are Shimane and Kagawa (28.97), Okayama (29.00) and Fukui and Yamaguchi (29.03).

Even over three years, the top four for both sexes are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, and Shimane is lowest for both (tied with Miyazaki for husbands and Kagawa for wives). The pattern of Greater Tokyo being high and parts of Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu being low is not a one-year accident, but differences of a few places in the middle mean little.

4. 75 years of change: up 5.1 years for husbands and 6.7 for wives, and roughly flat for the last decade

National records of the average age at first marriage go back to 1908^[7]. From the 1910s to the early 1930s, wives first married at about 23 and husbands at about 27, with little change. In 1950 the figures were still 25.9 for husbands and 23.0 for wives; the sustained rise began in the late 1970s.

Ages in years, from Table 9.11^[7]. The gap is the published figure; in some years it differs by 0.1 from subtracting the displayed values, because it is calculated from unrounded figures.

The fastest rise came from the late 1990s to the early 2010s

In the 20 years from 1975 to 1995, the average rose 1.5 years for husbands and 1.6 for wives. In the 20 years from 1995 to 2015 it rose 2.6 years for husbands and 3.1 for wives, a faster pace. Husbands reached 30.0 in 2006 and wives 29.0 in 2011.

Since 2015: flat for husbands, slightly up for wives

From 2015 to 2025, husbands went from 31.1 to 31.0, essentially unchanged, and have stayed between 31.0 and 31.2 since 2014. Wives rose 0.3 years, from 29.4 to 29.7. By prefecture, over these ten years the husbands' figure fell in 28 prefectures, rose in 14 and was unchanged in five. The wives' figure rose in 41 prefectures and fell only in Shimane^[5][6].

Over the 75 years since 1950, the national figure rose 5.1 years for husbands, from 25.9 to 31.0, and 6.7 years for wives, from 23.0 to 29.7.

5. How regional gaps changed: narrowest around 1975 to 1990, then wider again

Prefectural figures are published every five years from 1950 to 2005 and every year from 2009 (Okinawa from 1975)^[5]. The tables below show the highest and lowest prefectures in selected years.

Husbands

Wives

The gap between highest and lowest was largest in 1950 (3.0 years for husbands, 3.3 for wives) and narrowed to 1.4 to 1.5 years for husbands and 1.6 to 1.8 for wives around 1975 to 1990. As the national figures rose, the gap widened again, reaching 2.5 years for husbands in 2015. In 2025 it was 2.3 years for husbands and 1.9 for wives, wider than half a century ago.

Tokyo has been first every time since 1975

For husbands, Tokyo was first in 1950 and 1955, Yamanashi from 1960 to 1970, and Tokyo every time from 1975. For wives, Nagano was first every time from 1950 to 1965 (tied with Yamanashi in 1960), and Tokyo has been first every time since 1970 (tied with Nagano that year)^[5][6]. Around 1950 to 1970, Yamanashi and Nagano were level with or above Tokyo. At the other end, Tokushima was lowest for husbands every time from 1950 to 1970 (including ties), and Toyama lowest for wives every time from 1950 to 1965.

Prefectures whose rank moved most: Tohoku rose, parts of Hokuriku and Chugoku fell

• Fukushima: its wives' figure was the lowest every time from 2000 to 2015 (tied with Yamaguchi at 28.6 in 2015). In 2025 it was 29.3, 26th. Its husbands rose from 38th in 2005 to 9th in 2025 (31.0). Its husbands' rise since 1975, 4.7 years, is the largest in Japan.
• Akita: wives went from 27th in 2005 to 6th in 2025 (29.8) and husbands from 28th to 9th (31.0). Its wives' rise since 1975, 5.8 years, is the largest in Japan.
• Miyazaki: its husbands' figure was the lowest in nine of the 13 years from 2009 to 2021. In 2025 it was 46th (29.9).
• Toyama: wives were lowest in 1950 at 21.1, but rose to 10th by 2010. In 2025 they were 37th (29.1). Husbands also went from 10th in 2005 to 33rd in 2025.
• Shiga and Okayama: from 2005 to 2025, Shiga fell from 17th to 36th for husbands and 18th to 37th for wives, and Okayama from 28th to 41st for husbands and 32nd to 46th for wives.

These ranks are only positions among the 47 prefectures. From 2005 to 2025 the average age at first marriage rose in every prefecture for both sexes. Prefectures that fell in rank still saw ages rise; they simply rose less than the national figure.

6. The age gap between spouses: 1.3 years nationally, the smallest on record, ranging from 1.8 in Gifu to 0.7 in Saga

Nationally, the gap between husbands' and wives' average age at first marriage was 1.3 years in 2025, the smallest since records began in 1908^[7]. It was about four years before the war, 2.9 in 1950, 2.3 in 1975 and 1.8 in 2005, shrinking steadily because wives' age at first marriage rose faster than husbands'.

Taking the difference between the displayed husbands' and wives' figures by prefecture, the largest gaps are in Gifu (1.8 years), Fukushima and Ibaraki (1.7) and Gunma, Saitama and Aichi (1.6). The smallest are in Saga (0.7), Nara, Kumamoto and Miyazaki (0.9) and Nagasaki and Okinawa (1.0). Tokyo, at 1.4, is close to the national figure. Because these are differences between figures rounded to one decimal place, they may be off by about 0.1 years.

Where husbands marry later, wives do too

Husbands' and wives' figures follow a similar order across prefectures. The correlation coefficient across the 47 prefectures in 2025 is 0.87: where husbands' age at first marriage is higher, wives' tends to be higher too. Some prefectures rank quite differently by sex, though: Nara is third for wives but 12th for husbands, Ibaraki sixth for husbands but 18th for wives, and Gifu 12th for husbands but 37th for wives.

7. Age at first marriage and at first birth: prefectures line up in a similar order

The birth tables in the vital statistics give the average age of mothers and fathers at the birth of a child, by birth order and prefecture^[8]. In 2025 the national average age of mothers at the birth of their first child was 31.0, and of fathers 32.8.

Mothers' average age at first birth is highest in Tokyo (32.5), Kanagawa (31.7), Saitama (31.3), Chiba (31.2) and Kyoto (31.1), and lowest in Miyazaki (29.5), Yamaguchi (29.8), Tottori and Saga (29.9) and Wakayama (30.0). These overlap closely with the top and bottom of the wives' age at first marriage, and the correlation across the 47 prefectures is 0.84.

This does not mean 1.3 years from marriage to first child

Nationally, mothers' average age at first birth (31.0) is 1.3 years above wives' average age at first marriage (29.7). The same difference by prefecture ranges from 0.5 years in Kochi, Saga and Miyazaki to 1.9 years in Tokyo.

The two figures, however, are averages for different groups of people. Most mothers who had a first child in 2025 married before 2025. Births are also assigned to prefectures by the child's address and marriages by the husband's^[3]. The difference does not measure how long the same couples take from marriage to their first child.

8. Reading the figures: what the average age at first marriage does and does not tell you

It says nothing about people who did not marry, or how common marriage is

The average age at first marriage covers only people who married for the first time that year. People who are not married, or who have chosen not to marry, are not in the figure. It cannot tell you whether people in a prefecture with a high average marry less or more. Comparing how common marriage is requires the marriage rate (prefectural figures for 2025 are due in November 2026) or the census statistics on marital status.

The figures also cover only legal marriages registered with a marriage notification. They do not include unregistered de facto marriages or relationships recognised under local partnership systems.

Prefectures reflect where people lived, not where they were born

Prefectures are assigned by the husband's address at the time of filing. People who moved to another prefecture for study or work and married there are counted where they moved to. Wives are also counted in the prefecture of the husband's address, so the figure is not "the age at first marriage of women from that prefecture". People moving in this way may contribute to Tokyo's high figure, but these statistics alone cannot confirm it.

These statistics cannot explain why prefectures differ

Many factors may lie behind differences between prefectures, such as university enrolment, work, housing, commuting and migration to cities. But vital statistics count registered marriages and the ages involved; they do not show which factors matter or by how much. No single reason explains the differences.

An average is not "normal" or a target

An average rises even when a small number of older people are added. An average age at first marriage of around 30 does not mean that most people marry at around 30. Whether and when to marry differs from person to person, and there is no need to compare yourself with your prefecture's average. Please read this ranking as statistics on regional trends.

Our articles on life expectancy by prefecture and average salary by prefecture also use official statistics to look at how far Tokyo and other regions differ.

This article introduces published statistics and does not recommend any particular choice about marriage or family. Figures are from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's final vital statistics for 2025, as published in October 2026. The three-year averages, spousal gaps and correlation coefficients were calculated for this article from the published figures.

References

1. [1]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Summary of the 2025 Vital Statistics (final data), published 30 September 2026 (Japanese). MHLW ↩
2. [2]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, press release on the 2025 Vital Statistics (final data), 30 September 2026, including the number of marriages and the plan to publish detailed rates in November 2026 (Japanese). MHLW (PDF) ↩
3. [3]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Summary of the 2025 Vital Statistics (final data): outline of the survey (coverage and notes on use; prefectures are assigned by the child's address for births and the husband's address for marriages) (Japanese). MHLW (PDF) ↩
4. [4]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Summary of the 2025 Vital Statistics (final data), statistical table 4: summary of vital statistics by prefecture (number of marriages) (Japanese). MHLW (PDF) ↩
5. [5]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Vital Statistics (final data) 2025, volume 1, marriage, Table 9.12-1: average age at first marriage by prefecture and year, husbands (couples who began living together and filed in the same year), released on e-Stat on 30 September 2026 (Japanese). e-Stat (CSV) ↩
6. [6]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Vital Statistics (final data) 2025, volume 1, marriage, Table 9.12-2: average age at first marriage by prefecture and year, wives (couples who began living together and filed in the same year), released on e-Stat on 30 September 2026 (Japanese). e-Stat (CSV) ↩
7. [7]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Vital Statistics (final data) 2025, volume 1, marriage, Table 9.11: average age at marriage of husbands and wives and the age gap, by year, for all marriages and first marriages, released on e-Stat on 30 September 2026 (Japanese). e-Stat (CSV) ↩
8. [8]Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Vital Statistics (final data) 2025, volume 1, births, Table 4.21: average age of fathers and mothers by birth order and prefecture, released on e-Stat on 30 September 2026 (Japanese). e-Stat (CSV) ↩
9. [9]Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat), Vital Statistics: list of files (statistical tables of final data) (Japanese). e-Stat ↩