Author: Pamela Lugten

Global Love Report – May 4, 2022
English translation by Pamela Stephanie

Three cities in Japan collaborate to support Matchmaking. The cities of Hagi, Nagato, and Mine have decided to implement programs that will support marriage activity or marriage hunting.

They will open a GO-EN Center in each city, which will provide consultation service for those looking for marriage. The service will be provided both in-person and online. They will also have matchmaking events as well as skill improvement seminars to help singles meet new people. They will also provide a weekly email newsletter with useful information on matchmaking.

The city of Hagi has an existing municipal matchmaking agency since 2008. And the agency successfully matched 41 couples. However, there have been complaints from members. The main one is that the number of members registered with the service is not increasing. Another complaint it tends to be the same people attending the matchmaking events. The cities of Nagato and Mine, however, didn’t provide such a service previously.

Because this collaboration is between three cities, the target area is thus wider than before. They’re expecting that the number of members will increase and that it will encourage more encounters.

According to their planning, membership registration fee will be 2,000 Yen (around $15). However they are waiving the fee this year. Recruitment was to start mid-April, with a goal of registering 150 people.

During the press conference at the committee’s inaugural meeting, the mayors of each city mentioned that the cities will work together to support the matchmaking process, from the first meeting to being married. And that the project will lead to new encounters for singletons in the cities and will hopefully lead to people remaining in the cities after they get married.

Originally published by Asahi Shimbun.

(Image source: Pexels, Ketut Subiyanto)

Global Love Report – April 27, 2022
English summary by Pamela Stephanie

Korean matchmaking company, Duo, has disclosed its member verification process. This is due to the recent revelation that a blind date app had its employees create false accounts. This has caused the public to demand for a reliable member verification process for companies in the dating industry in South Korea.

And so, Duo decided to divulge its process. The first part of the process involves having members fill in forms with 160 types of data. The data has to do with what the member is looking for in a partner as well as their personal information. This process happens when a person signs up to become a member or wants to consult with a matchmaker.

Then, Duo’s internal member verification team verifies the information on the documents. These may includes documents such as: a marriage certificate, family relations certificate, proof of education, and employment certificate. They then determine the authenticity of the documents.

There have been complaints that the sign-up process is complex. However, the company believes that it’s a necessary procedure.  No matter how inconvenient it may be to potential clients.

Duo also does membership verification even for members who have temporarily suspended their activities due to dating or other personal circumstances but wish to resume matchmaking activities.

But that’s not all: the company has a continuous process of checking in on their members through their post-date review system. By checking up on clients after they’ve met their match, the staff at Duo will be able to find out if a certain member had offended or threatened their match/date or if someone had submitted false information.

This is all to ensure that their clients are safe and that they can provide members with reliable service.

Originally published by 문화뉴스

(Image source: Unsplash, Franck)

Global Love Report – April 27, 2022
English translation by Pamela Stephanie

It’s spring and that means that the sun comes out more and more often. Ideal weather to plan a nice date and that’s possible again “in real life” due to the lax corona measures. However a new study by the dating app Meetic shows that almost half of the Flemish people surveyed who go on dates from time to time prefer not to get too creative. They prefer the traditional “go for a drink” date. The other half would like something a little more exciting.

Traditional date is still the most popular

The research shows that for 2 out of 5 Flemish (40%) who occasionally go out on a date, a traditional date is still the best option. This includes going to the cinema or going for a drink. Those over 35 prefer the latter. It also appears that there are differences between men (54%) and women (41%).

When people are asked about more exciting ideas for a first date with the traditional Flemish person, we noticed very surprising numbers. For example, an amusement park visit (37%), a cocktail making workshop (35%), and curiously enough, an intimate spa date (31%) are in the top 3.

Showing Initiative is sexy

So it’s clear, around 48% of Flemish people would like to do something different than a traditional date. Of these, 53% find it quite difficult to come up with an exciting date. What’s remarkable is that 71% of Flemish women find it attractive when their (potential) date takes the initiative in planning a fun activity. For men, 67% find it attractive if a woman takes the lead in coming up with an activity for the date.

Originally published by Newsmonkey

(Image source: Pexels, Edwin Soto)

Global Love Report – April 20, 2022
English summary by Pamela Stephanie

Matchmaking agency ZWEI, part of IBJ’s group of matchmaking agencies, announced that its new system has caused the number of matches to increase by 153%.

They’re aiming to achieve an higher marriage rate. And to do so, they’re continuing to improve their existing systems. Adding new functions and integrating AI with the addition of the “human support” that they value.

ZWEI has seen an increase in new members before the pandemic and during. This is in line with the increasing demand for matchmaking services. It’s because of this that they decided to upgrade its systems.

Furthermore, they have also implemented the “voice message” function that will allow voice matching, which is the first of its kind in the industry in Japan. This is because while preferences for hobbies, appearance, and values can change for someone as they age, “voice” preference does not have a significant change.

And so, they have integrated the “voice message” function to their system where they can match a client using their “values” matching service and also through voice match. Members can record a voice message for up to 60 seconds with this new system.

Originally published by PR Times.

(Image source: Unsplash, Andrea Piacquadio)

Global Love Report – April 13, 2022
English summary by Pamela Stephanie

IBJ reportedly had record matchmaking numbers back in March 2022. Their monthly figures exceeded 50,000, which is its highest numbers ever. In Quarters 1 to 4 of 2021, IBJ’s monthly numbers peaked at just under 48,000. January saw their monthly numbers increase to almost 48,500 and February’s numbers dipped down to 47,000. But the numbers in March surged to 50,812.

Despite the presence of Corona, membership numbers have increased. And the number of marriages is also expected to increase in line with the matchmaking activities that are occurring.

It should be noted that while the number of singles that utilize dating apps are on the rise, so are the number of people who are seriously looking for marriage. And this in turn made them switch from apps to finding a matchmaking agency.

And despite a dip in dating opportunities due to people refraining from going out, the number of dates has had a steady increase and successful matches have reached a record high. This is mainly due to the switch to virtual dates, which made it easier for people to meet and for long-distance matchmaking to be possible.

Furthermore, membership in rural areas have also increased, which contributed to the monthly rise in numbers and last month’s record matchmaking numbers.

Originally published by PR Times.

(Image source: Unsplash, Erwan Hesry)

Global Love Report – April 6, 2022
Translation and summary by Pamela Stephanie

The number of registrants for the second stage of the matchmaking service that was established by the Ministry of Religion of Solo has increased and is more diverse than the during the first phase of data collection. Even widowers and lecturers don’t want to miss looking for loved one through the Ministry of Religion’s innovative service.

However, the registrants are predominantly male. The Head of the Solo Ministry of Religion, Hidayat Maskur, explained that in the registrants in the first phase was 543 people and 398 of them passed the verification. In phase 2, the number increased to 555 registrants and 553 passed the verification.

“We verified the data and made a video call to confirm the registrant. In the first phase a lot of them weren’t real or used a picture that has been modified by apps to attract people. We need people who are honest so they can build a good household,” he explained on Wednesday (3/16/2022).

Hidayat said only two people didn’t pass the verification process during the second phase of the matchmaking service. This shows that the registrants for the second phase are more enthusiastic in finding a match through the service.

In addition, he continued, the participants of the second phase are more diverse compared to the first phase. They have diverse educational background which includes even someone with a Master’s degree, lecturers, and widowers.

However, the gender imbalance among participants is causing trouble. This is because only 188 of the 553 participants are women. They have introduced them through Zoom meetings. They even had introductory sessions where they were given informational materials on marital psychology and reproductive health, among other things. Hidayat explained that they will get to know each other better with every meeting.

Originally Published by Solo Pos

(Image source: Unsplash, Gema Saputera)

Global Love Report – March 30, 2022
A summary article by Pamela Stephanie

Niche agencies in France are facing a surge in single Frenchmen requesting to be matched with Ukrainian women since the war in Ukraine began.

One matchmaker, owner of the Marseille-based “Au cœur de l’Est”, Kateryna Baratova, explained that men have been coming to her “like vultures”. Before the war, she saw a few dozen registration requests per month. But nowadays she’s receiving almost twenty times more messages by email or phone.

However, many if the men contacting the agency doesn’t seem to understand how a matchmaking agency works. Incorrectly assuming that the agency would be matching them for free with Ukrainian women who are fleeing their country.

Some of these men go as far as the specify age or hair color, with women from 18 to 30 years old being the popular choice.

When Baratova explained to one of these men that if he wanted to meet a young model, he would have to pay, he grew angry and insulted her. Of course, Baratova is aware that the price for registration at her agency, currently between €1,600 to 2,500, is not feasible for everyone.
And it’s not just her agency that’s seeing this trend. Other French matchmaking agencies specializing in matching women of Slavic origin are being flooded with requests. Mainly from men looking for desperate, beautiful women.

Some of these men are drawn to the pictures of pretty women on the agencies’ marketing materials. But they don’t know what the current situation is like for some agencies.

Those that organize trips to Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv or Marioupol have had to cancel due to the war. Additionally, many of the Ukrainian clients have also unsubscribed from some of these agencies. Some of them have other things to worry about.

However, for others, the war has pushed them into a serious relationship.

One Ukrainian woman had been hesitating for a while. But the war made her decide to take the plunge and she has joined her match in the Polish border.

But Baratova also noted that former clients who are now married have decided to help Ukrainians who are fleeing, offering to take in even entire families.

Originally published by Marianne.

(Image source: Unsplash, Julian Hochgesang)