Parents of unmarried offspring drive surge in matchmaking parties
More and more Japanese parents are attending matchmaking parties in an effort to marry off their children, worried that they will be part of the growing segment of the population that never ties the knot. Although matchmaking for political or financial reasons was common in ...
The delicate Japanese art of rom-com title translation
With so much at stake, it's no wonder distribution companies pour so much thought into coming up with workable, attractive Japanese titles for their films.
For long-distance lovers, apps that make the heart grow fonder
Thanks to technology, your loved one can always be with you, in your pocket — or under your thumb.
'The Sound of Waves' stands alone in the sea of Yukio Mishima's works
"The Sound of Waves" is a typical boy-meets-girl story. Shinji is a poor fisherman on Uta-jima, a small island in Ise Bay. Hatsue left the island as a young girl to train to be a pearl diver. When she returns, now a young woman, ...
Beyond silence: lessons learned from a Japanese spouse
You see it often in Tokyo: the attentive Japanese woman and the Western man filling silence. In fact, a lot of them end up married, sharing a house and 1,000 meals, albeit hardly a life of the mind.
China's biggest dating show helping lonely hearts in Japan
Chen Ling, Chinese owner of a start-up business in Japan, never imagined that she would appear on her home country's most popular dating show. But Chen, 27, was selected as the first Chinese contestant living in Japan to appear on the Chinese cultural phenomenon "If ...
To furu or furareru: In Japanese or any language, breaking up is hard to do
The girl who dumped me wasn't Japanese, so I was surprised to get a Japanese language lesson out of the ordeal.
Don't miss an opportunity when kikkake comes knocking
Introducing きっかけ, which identifies a clue, trigger, motivation or cause to start something.
It's the season of love: Won't someone please grab hold of my chin?
In Japan these days, it can seem as if love itself is on the decline — and that no one really cares.
Singapore man fined for spiking Japanese colleague's drink with 'love potion'
A Singaporean man has been fined 1,500 Singapore dollars ($1,042) for spiking his Japanese colleague's drinking water with a "love potion" that contained poisonous substances in an attempt to make her fall in love with him, according to local media reports and court documents. Wong ...
In Japan, adultery can cost you your job as well as your marriage
Companies must be able to prove that specific damage has been done to their business if they want to fire cheating workers.
Some South Koreans defy tradition with simple, cheap weddings
The night before their wedding, Kim Kwang-yoon and Cho Jin-oh were up until 2 a.m. with the bride's mother, setting tables. Their marriage venue: a room in the basement of Seoul City Hall, rented from the government for $60. With South Korea's average wedding expenditure ...
