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August 13, 2026
 

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DATING

As of June 30 this year, the Tokyo Enmusubi matchmaking app had 16,000 registered members ¡ª whittled down from around 36,000 applicants ¡ª and 760 couples in "serious relationships," according to government data released this month.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2026
¡¯Appy marriages: AI helps hundreds of Japanese wed
A total of 265 couples have married after meeting on an AI-powered dating app launched by the Tokyo government in 2024 to lift the low birth rate, according to official data.
An engineering graduate student demonstrates a part of the semiconductor manufacturing process at Korea University in Seoul on June 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2026
In South Korea, a job or partner at Samsung or SK Hynix is the new ¡®A+¡¯ catch
South Korean matchmaking firms say people working at the companies?are now being ranked alongside doctors, lawyers and those from other traditionally elite professions.
Netflix limited series ¡°Soul Mate¡± stars Hayato Isomura (right) and Ok Taec-yeon as two men whose friendship unfolds from a chance encounter in Berlin.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
May 21, 2026
¡®Soul Mate¡¯ reaches for pathos but remains hollow
With a globe-spanning story and plenty of melodrama, Netflix¡¯s queer-themed limited series ultimately falters under the weight of its own ambiguity.
Men hiding their marital status to get women into a sexual relationship is nothing new. But a growing number of victims are speaking out on the men who deceived them for feigning singlehood ¡ª or dokushin gis¨­.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2026
Deceived women seek criminal penalty for married men pretending to be single
As it stands, men feigning singlehood to enter into sexual relationships can only be sued in the civil courts.
Experts say emotional bonds with AI are often shaped by prior experiences ¡ª or disappointments ¡ª in human relationships.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Feb 13, 2026
Love, engineered in the age of AI
As chatbots grow more sophisticated, some people are forming romantic bonds ¡ª and even marriages ¡ª with artificial partners.
In its second season, "The Boyfriend" allows more time to show the diversity of individual experience.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Feb 6, 2026
Vulnerability, love and the limits of reality TV on ¡®The Boyfriend¡¯
Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ same-sex dating show may be several layers removed from reality, but it nonetheless offers an important space for dialogue and representation.
The Kabukicho nightlife district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2026
Host arrested for using dating app to lure women to club in Tokyo
The arrest marked the first crackdown in the country on cases involving soliciting customers to restaurants and pubs through dating apps.
The second season of Netflix Japan's ¡°The Boyfriend¡± is bringing together a new set of bachelors to find romance and learn more about themselves.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 23, 2026
Second season of ¡®The Boyfriend¡¯ lets love take its time
Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ same-sex dating show returns with a season that lets relationships unfold at their own pace.
A screenshot of Loverse app shows an AI-generated woman, characterized as a 25-year-old hair and makeup artist Miyu, registered as a female companion.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2026
Swipe right for AI romance
An app called Loverse aims to give users the closest depiction of the real thing ¡ª complete with all its unpredictability.
Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ newest reality-dating experiment ¡°Badly in Love¡± follows self-identified delinquents as they try to find romance.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 16, 2025
¡®Badly in Love¡¯: Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ most chaotic dating show may be its most honest
Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡°Badly in Love¡± turns delinquent bravado into surprisingly earnest, character-driven reality television.
A projected 8 million deepfakes ¡ª manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence ¡ª will be shared worldwide in 2025, about a fifth of which will be part of romance scams, according to cyber firm McAfee.
WORLD / Society
May 19, 2025
Deep love or deepfake: Dating in the time of AI
Scammers are increasingly using deepfakes ¡ª manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence ¡ª to look and sound real on dating apps.
Hoshuji temple displays a banner welcoming people to "marriage-hunting at the temple," an event for those who want to register as members of the nationwide Kichienkai matchmaking organization, on Jan. 26 in Chikusa Ward, Nagoya.
JAPAN / Society
May 4, 2025
Temple master takes unconventional approach to matchmaking
¡°It¡¯s better to find happiness with the partner you meet than to search for a partner you think will make you happy,¡± says Buddhist monk Koshi Kimiya.
Tapple, one of Japan's most popular dating apps, has launched the nation's first feature to verify a user's single status via their My Number card.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Single, or not? Japanese dating app launches relationship verification system
With Tapple boasting over 20 million users, worries about dishonest relationship statuses were common.
China's female gamers are finding the male leads of Love and Deepspace more enticing than real-life partners.
LIFE / Digital
Mar 29, 2025
¡®Better than real life¡¯: In China, virtual boyfriends are emotional aids
For many, virtual companions offer more than entertainment ¡ª?they provide emotional fulfilment.
There seems to be a preference for similarly educated and similarly earning spouses in modern marriages, reflecting a trend that prioritizes parity over "marrying up."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025
What really changed the marriage market
The internet connects us with so many potential mates that our puny human brains can¡¯t handle it.
Netflix reality series ¡°Offline Love¡± follows five men and five women as they spend 10 days in Nice, France, finding romance.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 18, 2025
¡®Offline Love¡¯ ditches digital dating and puts old-school romance to the test
Netflix Â鶹´«Ã½ new reality series whisks its participants to a picturesque seaside city in France and leans into nostalgia for a simpler time.
Artificial intelligence is fast becoming 'a new tool in the toolkit of scammers' preying on individuals looking for love online.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 14, 2025
Got a digital crush this Valentine¡¯s? Beware of scams, says Meta.
At a Feb. 12 briefing, Meta outlined a recently disrupted romance scam that originated in Cambodia and targeted people in Chinese and Japanese languages.
Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game
The once-stigmatized?apps are flourishing as a new normal for dating among Gen Z in Japan, albeit with a different approach to before.
A date night on Christmas Eve typically starts with a romantic dinner at a restaurant often with a great view or a private space.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 18, 2024
Silent night? Not if you want to impress your Christmas Eve date.
In Japan, a date night on Christmas Eve typically starts with a romantic dinner at a restaurant often with a great view or a private space.
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 10, 2024
Yurie Collins: ¡®Everyone seems sedated, fed-up ¡­ that¡¯s why they turn to comedy¡¯
Yurie Collins is a bicultural stand-up comedian who has opened for comedian Atsuko Okatsuka and the upcoming Iliza Shlesinger show in Tokyo.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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