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 ...
For young Japanese seeking romance, beauty is in the eye of the dating app
Japan's millennials are apathetic about romance, and everyone knows it. But according to Hirokazu Nakamura, chief product officer and chief marketing officer of Tokyo-based startup Eureka Inc., young people are not losing interest in love itself. "It's more about the whole process of falling in love ...
Over 50% of municipalities holding matchmaking events, marriage seminars to help singles: survey
More than 50 percent of local governments in Japan are supporting single men and women through matchmaking and marriage seminars to help them get married, a recent Kyodo News survey showed, highlighting public efforts to curb the nation's dwindling birthrate and depopulation. The survey released ...
Rural Japan prefectures act as matchmakers, luring city women
Masanobu Ota, a farmer in Ureshino, Saga Prefecture, and his wife Etsuko, married last year thanks to the help of a matchmaker — the prefectural government. Masanobu, 28, met Etsuko, 38, at a konkatsu (spouse-hunting) event held by the Saga Prefectural Government in November 2015. ...
One day in May, a woman in her 40s was browsing a tablet computer at a municipality-funded matchmaking center, searching for a prospective husband. She was surprised; the computer suggested candidates she wouldn't have otherwise considered. "It recommends people who were under my radar," she ...
Kanagawa woman finds success in crowdfunding matchmaking quest
A Kanagawa woman who started a crowdfunding project last year to bankroll her search for a husband is on course to reap the ultimate dividend. After meeting 11 suitors in the space of a month through the formal Japanese matchmaking tradition of omiai, 27-year-old Tomoko ...
Modern Japanese singles seeking spouses face myriad of challenges
A recent government survey showed that nearly one in four men and one in seven women will never marry. A growing number of people are struggling with finding stable employment that ensures a livable wage and, unlike decades ago, marriage now is one of ...
Expert panel on increasing marriages in Japan ditches 'marriage-hunting mentor' proposal
A group of experts advising the government on how to boost marriage numbers has said that companies should aid employees hoping to wed by holding events to help them meet potential partners, but it ditched a proposal to create a "marriage-hunting mentor" system in ...
Kanagawa woman, 26, taps crowdfunding to raise money for her spouse search
From tech products to movies, the recent advent of crowdfunding has allowed companies and creators to make their dreams a reality. But 26-year-old Tomoko Takebe has a more personal goal in mind — to find herself a husband. "I'm totally serious," Takebe, who has raised over ...
Gokon matchmakers fan the passion with sporting dates
Is the couple that watches sports together the couple that going to stay together? Matchmakers place their bets.
Yamagata co-op markets bank account that offers love interest
Deposit your money at a bank in northern Japan and you could get more than interest payments. You might end up getting married. This weekend, 184 depositors at Tsuruoka Shinkin Bank — single men and women with an average age of 32 — are invited ...
About 1,000 railway fans took part in Tetsukon, a matchmaking event especially for them, on Saturday near Tokyo, with about 100 men and women coupling. Saitama Railway Corp. and Tokyo Metro Co. jointly hosted the event in the city of Saitama to offer their unmarried ...
