A survey carried out by a government-affiliated institute shows that although nearly 90 percent of single people in Japan eventually want to get married, nearly half of them have no immediate marriage plans.

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research passed out a questionnaire in June to over 6,000 unmarried men and women between the ages of 18 and 34.

Eighty-seven percent of the men replied that they wanted to eventually marry--the same percentage as when the questionnaire was last administered in 2003.

Ninety percent of the women said they wanted to eventually marry, up 2 percentage points.

Sixty-six percent of the men and 74 percent of the women said they believed marriage was advantageous. Being able to have children and a family was the advantage that was most often cited.

However 56 percent of the men and 49 percent of the women said they had no plans of getting married within a year. The lack of opportunities to meet a suitable partner, and an unwillingness to lose their freedom, were some of the reasons that were mentioned.

The Institute says although more and more people are becoming positively inclined toward marriage and raising a family, they are continuing to postpone marriage as a realistic option.