日本98%的被收养人实际上是20-30岁的成年男子。

　　In Japan, there is a several-hundred-year-old tradition in which businesses adopt their executives so companies or institutions are "family-run" groups.

　　日本有一项延续了数百年的传统，即企业收养管理人员，这样一来，企业或机构就成了"家族运营"集团。

　　It all started hundreds of years ago when Japan's civil code dictated how a family's wealth would be passed on after the death of the family elder.

　　这一切始于数百年前，当时日本民法典规定了家族长者去世后家族财富的继承办法。

　　If a family did not have any blood-related sons, the law said that adopted sons could carry on the family name, business, and receive the wealth.

　　该部民法典规定，如果家里没有任何有血缘的子嗣，养子可以延续姓氏、继承产业和财富。

　　日本百年家族企业的生存秘诀 养子继承制度!

　　Nowadays, legal adoption of this kind is paired up with an arranged marriage of a daughter, meaning the adopted son becomes son and son-in-law at the same time because he changes his name to the wife's family name.

　　如今这类合法收养与女儿的包办婚姻相结合，即养子同时成为儿子和女婿，因为他会将自己的姓氏改为妻子的姓氏。

　　Studies have found that adult adoption is a very effective way of keeping family businesses healthy over long periods of time.

　　研究发现，收养成人是家族企业长期健康运营极有效的方法。

　　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."

　　《新经济》杂志称，“收养高素质成年人来领导家族企业具有一箭三雕的效果：取代无才的血亲继承人；促使有望通过成为养子而踏上拥有公司捷径的管理者表现更出色；激发处于随时可能被“更优秀”的养子取代的威胁中的血亲继承人的工作积极性。”

　　Today, there are a host of matchmaking companies and marriage consultants specializing in recruiting adult adoptees for Japanese companies.

　　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。

　　"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.

　　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。”

　　"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."

　　“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。”