ID :
131215
Sat, 07/03/2010 - 23:04
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https://oananews.org//node/131215
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Feature : MATCHMAKING IS THRIVING BUSINESS IN JAPAN
By Amie Fenia Arimbi
Tokyo, July 3 (ANTARA) - Are you single and having difficulty finding a life partner ? Desperate to have a girlfriend or boyfriend? You may want to observe the way Japanese look for a soul mate through Konkatsu.
The term Konkatsu has been popular in Japan since 2008 especially among unmarried women aged 30 to 40 years. It is the abbreviated combination of the words "kokken" and "katsudo" which mean an activity to look for a life partner by attending matchmaking events organized by private agencies. The event can be located anywhere - a restaurant, softball field or even the office depending on the agency's choice.
The agency will invite all listed candidates, both men and women, to the party. Each of the invitees is given a profile card containing name, current job and salary. Then, after chatting for a while, it is up to the candidates whether to take the aqquaintenceships with the men or womem they have met at the party to the next level or end them.
The average fee to attend such a party in Japan now is 5,000 Yen for a men and 3,500 Yen for a women with matchmaking companies. The agency usually holds the party on a spacious venue, provides a competent master of ceremonies, and good food for the candidates.
Organizing Konkatsu events has become a profitable business these days in Japan with the number of marriages having continuously decreased over the past 20 years. According to a 2005 census, the unmarried rate among males aged 30-34 years was 47.1 percent and among females 32 percent. These numbers contrast sharply with those in the 1975s when the unmarried rate among men was 14.3 percent and among women 7.7 percent.
Many people in Japan see this changed condition as a result of two things namely a decline in the tradition of matchmaking by the so-called "neighborhood aunties" and the passing of the equal employment law in the 1980s which has made women more keen to pursue their careers rather than think about marriage.
On the other hand, men in Japan have experienced a decrease in income due to the economic downturn in Japan, especially after the oil shock in 1974 and the financial crisis in 1997. As a result, young men had found it hard to get a fulltime job and this condition led them to putting aside the idea of marriage at least until they felt settled economically.
However, there is also an interesting theory about the decline in marriages in Japan as stated by Masahiro Yamada, a Sociology professor from Chuo University, Tokyo.
In his essay entitled "The Real Story Behind Japan's marriage Crisis", Masahiro said the decline in the number of marriages in Japan which started in 1974 had three primary causes, namely the strong tendency among women to expect men to take financial responsibility after marriage, the relative decline in men's incomes since 1974 and an upward trend in people's expectations about standard of living after marriage.
Masahiro based his theory on a survey conducted by the Institute for Research on Household Economics which showed 84.6 percent of wives who work full-time agrees with the statement "husbands should take responsibility for providing for their families" while among housewives the figure was 95.9 percent.
Research conducted by Mashahiro himself in 2003 on young people aged 25 to 34 years (both married and single) in Tokyo and Aomori prefecture (a rural area in northern Japan) showed 65.6 percent of respondents expressed agreement with the same idea.
"There are two things in particular that can be noted from the decline in marriages in Japan, namely women's expectations of their husbands' earnings and men's income prospects," he said.
For example, Masahiro said, if a woman who wishes to return to work after raising children, she might not be able to find a job, and even if she did, it was uncertain whether she would be able to earn a significant income. Therefore, when considering marriage woman inevitably feel that she must choose a man who could be relied upon to earn enough to provide her and the family with a satisfactory standard of living.
As to the case of men, he said, the income expectation that unmarried women had for their future husbands were not in line with the actual income of unmarried men. This was due to the economic downturn in Japan since 1974 where many companies slowly reduced the number of their employees and this also caused younger Japanese men to found it hard to get a full-time job.
"In short , the increasing unpredictability and polarization of young men's income is fuelling the decline in marriages," he said.
To give a picture of his theory, Masahiro cited the results of his survey in 2003 on young people aged 25 - 34 years in Tokyo and Aomori prefecture. Just under 30 percent of female respondents stated they did not care how much a prospective husband earned.
Whatever the theory is, one sure thing was that the matchmaking business has started to grow in Japan. According to an article published in Tokyo-based online newspaper Japan Today entitled "Konkatsu Marriage Businesses Booming", leading matchmaking company Zwei claimed it had recorded a 20-percent jump in enquiries and its membership had now risen to around 40,000.
Zwei had sales of 4.4 billion yen in 2008, and a net profit of 321 million yen, up 9 percent from last year. This may not sound like a lot, but Zwei is spending large sums on advertising and is clearly on a roll. Their share price has surged 40 percent in the last six months.
Some may see this trend as beneficial since the participants can search for a prospective partner to be married. It can cut the long process of introduction, enable the men and women concerned to aim straight at the main purpose, regardless of whether or not the persons they meet during the matchmaking party meet their expectations or not while other people will view this way of finding a prospective partner as materialistic and unfair. It is up to you to judge.
Tokyo, July 3 (ANTARA) - Are you single and having difficulty finding a life partner ? Desperate to have a girlfriend or boyfriend? You may want to observe the way Japanese look for a soul mate through Konkatsu.
The term Konkatsu has been popular in Japan since 2008 especially among unmarried women aged 30 to 40 years. It is the abbreviated combination of the words "kokken" and "katsudo" which mean an activity to look for a life partner by attending matchmaking events organized by private agencies. The event can be located anywhere - a restaurant, softball field or even the office depending on the agency's choice.
The agency will invite all listed candidates, both men and women, to the party. Each of the invitees is given a profile card containing name, current job and salary. Then, after chatting for a while, it is up to the candidates whether to take the aqquaintenceships with the men or womem they have met at the party to the next level or end them.
The average fee to attend such a party in Japan now is 5,000 Yen for a men and 3,500 Yen for a women with matchmaking companies. The agency usually holds the party on a spacious venue, provides a competent master of ceremonies, and good food for the candidates.
Organizing Konkatsu events has become a profitable business these days in Japan with the number of marriages having continuously decreased over the past 20 years. According to a 2005 census, the unmarried rate among males aged 30-34 years was 47.1 percent and among females 32 percent. These numbers contrast sharply with those in the 1975s when the unmarried rate among men was 14.3 percent and among women 7.7 percent.
Many people in Japan see this changed condition as a result of two things namely a decline in the tradition of matchmaking by the so-called "neighborhood aunties" and the passing of the equal employment law in the 1980s which has made women more keen to pursue their careers rather than think about marriage.
On the other hand, men in Japan have experienced a decrease in income due to the economic downturn in Japan, especially after the oil shock in 1974 and the financial crisis in 1997. As a result, young men had found it hard to get a fulltime job and this condition led them to putting aside the idea of marriage at least until they felt settled economically.
However, there is also an interesting theory about the decline in marriages in Japan as stated by Masahiro Yamada, a Sociology professor from Chuo University, Tokyo.
In his essay entitled "The Real Story Behind Japan's marriage Crisis", Masahiro said the decline in the number of marriages in Japan which started in 1974 had three primary causes, namely the strong tendency among women to expect men to take financial responsibility after marriage, the relative decline in men's incomes since 1974 and an upward trend in people's expectations about standard of living after marriage.
Masahiro based his theory on a survey conducted by the Institute for Research on Household Economics which showed 84.6 percent of wives who work full-time agrees with the statement "husbands should take responsibility for providing for their families" while among housewives the figure was 95.9 percent.
Research conducted by Mashahiro himself in 2003 on young people aged 25 to 34 years (both married and single) in Tokyo and Aomori prefecture (a rural area in northern Japan) showed 65.6 percent of respondents expressed agreement with the same idea.
"There are two things in particular that can be noted from the decline in marriages in Japan, namely women's expectations of their husbands' earnings and men's income prospects," he said.
For example, Masahiro said, if a woman who wishes to return to work after raising children, she might not be able to find a job, and even if she did, it was uncertain whether she would be able to earn a significant income. Therefore, when considering marriage woman inevitably feel that she must choose a man who could be relied upon to earn enough to provide her and the family with a satisfactory standard of living.
As to the case of men, he said, the income expectation that unmarried women had for their future husbands were not in line with the actual income of unmarried men. This was due to the economic downturn in Japan since 1974 where many companies slowly reduced the number of their employees and this also caused younger Japanese men to found it hard to get a full-time job.
"In short , the increasing unpredictability and polarization of young men's income is fuelling the decline in marriages," he said.
To give a picture of his theory, Masahiro cited the results of his survey in 2003 on young people aged 25 - 34 years in Tokyo and Aomori prefecture. Just under 30 percent of female respondents stated they did not care how much a prospective husband earned.
Whatever the theory is, one sure thing was that the matchmaking business has started to grow in Japan. According to an article published in Tokyo-based online newspaper Japan Today entitled "Konkatsu Marriage Businesses Booming", leading matchmaking company Zwei claimed it had recorded a 20-percent jump in enquiries and its membership had now risen to around 40,000.
Zwei had sales of 4.4 billion yen in 2008, and a net profit of 321 million yen, up 9 percent from last year. This may not sound like a lot, but Zwei is spending large sums on advertising and is clearly on a roll. Their share price has surged 40 percent in the last six months.
Some may see this trend as beneficial since the participants can search for a prospective partner to be married. It can cut the long process of introduction, enable the men and women concerned to aim straight at the main purpose, regardless of whether or not the persons they meet during the matchmaking party meet their expectations or not while other people will view this way of finding a prospective partner as materialistic and unfair. It is up to you to judge.
