Ten people out of 400 find partner in 10m JPY matchmaking event

The matchmaking event -- one of the largest in Japan -- was held last October in the city of Nagakute next to Nagoya at the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, home to the popular Ghibli Park. Applications outnumbered places by five to one, and 200 men and women each were selected by lottery to create connections through activities such as looking for items from Studio Ghibli's anime works. A total of 148 participants responded to an online survey conducted in January of this year. Of these, 10 respondents, or 7%, said that they developed a relationship with someone they met at the event. More than 90% of all respondents had exchanged contact information with participants of the opposite sex, but only 65% had kept in touch, and less than 40% had met in person afterward. While nearly 60% of the respondents said that they became more positive about marriage hunting through the event, some said that it was difficult to talk enough with their desired partner because of the large number of participants.

Click to expand...