This year's Christmas date night might have plenty of vacant slots if a recent survey on Japanese relationships is correct. Fewer young people than ever before say they have a girlfriend or boyfriend.
According to the poll in June this year by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, a record high 61.4 percent of unmarried men between 18 and 34 reported having no girlfriend, up 9.2 percentage points since 2005. Unmarried women with no boyfriend in the same age group hit a record 49.5 percent, up 4.8 percentage points. The very idea of having girlfriends and boyfriends seems to be on the way out.
The idea of marriage has not been discarded, though. Over 86 percent of men and 89 percent of women surveyed said they wanted to get married sometime. The key word there is "sometime," meaning perhaps, at a later time, under suitable conditions, if they happen to meet the right person.