In Japan, ‘Marriage Hunting’ May Require the Right Lair, and a Stripper Pole
Tokyo Real-Estate Firm Touts ‘Konkatsu’ Apartments to Attract Mates
By ELEANOR WARNOCK
Updated Jan. 28, 2015 10:54 p.m. ET
20 COMMENTS
TOKYO—Having trouble getting married? Maybe you aren’t doing enough pole dancing in your living room.
That is the idea behind one Tokyo real-estate company’s plan to solve the woes of Japan’s lonely singles with konkatsu or “marriage hunting” apartments.
The project’s mastermind, Rintaro Kikuchi, says living in the airy pads makes people more relaxed and social, leading to new encounters. He isn’t shy about explaining some features, like a pole smack in the middle of his latest model’s living room. “You can’t ignore sex and make a house,” he says.
Konkatsu is the word du jour both for Japanese singles and government officials trying to improve the nation’s aging demographics. There are konkatsu bars, konkatsu bus tours and konkatsu events for right-wingers, farmers and other groups. Local governments often pitch in funds to sponsor events, hoping to encourage marriage and the procreation of future taxpayers.
RELATED
Why Does Japan Need Marriage Hunting?
The percentage of unmarried people age 30 to 34 jumped to 47% from 21.5% for men and to 34.5% from 9% for women in the three decades through 2010, according to government data. Since birth out of wedlock is uncommon in Japan, those figures translate directly into a lower birthrate, with the average woman having about 1.4 children in her lifetime.
Masahiro Yamada, a Chuo University professor who coined the term konkatsu in 2007, says the problem is many young men nowadays don’t have secure jobs because Japan’s “lifetime employment” system is fraying. Young women still hold out for a husband who can support the family on one salary, he says, and men who know they can’t live up to those expectations are less active in searching for a mate.
Other researchers cite busy work schedules for both men and women, and some young people’s reluctance to leave comfortable lives with their parents.
For Mr. Kikuchi, the konkatsu apartment developer, the real problem is housing—cramped rooms, dinky kitchens and little natural light. With settings like that, he says, it is no wonder many Japanese don’t want to bring anyone home.
His latest model, a one-bedroom apartment, fulfills all of his seven rules for a konkatsu apartment, including a spacious kitchen and shower room, so couples can cook and bathe together. The home has plenty of windows to let in natural light and was remodeled with natural construction materials such as earth with fossilized algae.
“You sleep better, you wake up feeling refreshed, and you become more active,” he says about the home’s construction. “You smile more, and your skin looks better, and you are making lots of pheromones.”
Mr. Kikuchi also consulted a Japanese “total adviser of sexuality” who goes by the name Olivia and frequently appears in local media. She suggested adding a roomy bathtub in the living room as well as soundproofing and the pole, which looks as if it could have been transplanted from a local strip club.
Olivia, who declined to give her real name, said the pole could be used to entertain a male guest or to keep fit to better enjoy sex. “A lot of Japanese women are shy and bad at using their sex appeal,” she said. “By becoming their boyfriend’s ‘private pole dancer,’ I wanted them to be able to playfully enjoy their sex life together.”
The 41-year-old Mr. Kikuchi, who isn’t half-bad on the pole himself, thinks such amenities are needed not only to get couples hitched but also to keep them enjoying each other’s company. A January survey by the Japan Family Planning Association found about 45% of married couples had not had sex in the last month, up 3.3 percentage points from the last survey in 2012.
When couples stop having sex, their relationship soon turns sour, Mr. Kikuchi said.
“It has an impact on children when they see the relationship between their parents deteriorate,” he said. “They don’t see marriage or making a family as something happy,” accelerating the vicious cycle of falling marriage and birthrates.
Akino Kanno, 34, moved into one of Mr. Kikuchi’s konkatsu apartments north of Tokyo in late 2012 after a divorce. The property, completed in 2010, has six private apartments. Mr. Kikuchi designed the property so that residents will interact. They get together a few times a year for barbecues, and there is a common bulletin board for notices.
Ms. Kanno happened to see a notice from the building’s owner on the bulletin board recommending a local drinking hole. She went with a friend and was introduced to Masaru Kanno. The two bonded over manga and food. They later married.
Mr. Kanno remembers the first time he saw the apartment. “It was so fashionable. I was very surprised,” he said. “I knew this was someone who I wanted to be family.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Mikako Tokuda moved into the same building about two years ago and found a boyfriend less than half a year later on a social-networking site. The two have since broken up, but she said that moving from her dark, one-window apartment helped her relax and find the energy to think about dating. In her old apartment, she said, there was only one electric burner, which forced her to give up cooking, one of her favorite hobbies.
And does Mr. Kikuchi need a konkatsu apartment?
Sorry, ladies, he’s already married with two children.
Write to Eleanor Warnock at eleanor.warnock@wsj.com
Tokyo Real-Estate Firm Touts ‘Konkatsu’ Apartments to Attract Mates
By ELEANOR WARNOCK
Updated Jan. 28, 2015 10:54 p.m. ET
20 COMMENTS
TOKYO—Having trouble getting married? Maybe you aren’t doing enough pole dancing in your living room.
That is the idea behind one Tokyo real-estate company’s plan to solve the woes of Japan’s lonely singles with konkatsu or “marriage hunting” apartments.
The project’s mastermind, Rintaro Kikuchi, says living in the airy pads makes people more relaxed and social, leading to new encounters. He isn’t shy about explaining some features, like a pole smack in the middle of his latest model’s living room. “You can’t ignore sex and make a house,” he says.
Konkatsu is the word du jour both for Japanese singles and government officials trying to improve the nation’s aging demographics. There are konkatsu bars, konkatsu bus tours and konkatsu events for right-wingers, farmers and other groups. Local governments often pitch in funds to sponsor events, hoping to encourage marriage and the procreation of future taxpayers.
RELATED
Why Does Japan Need Marriage Hunting?
The percentage of unmarried people age 30 to 34 jumped to 47% from 21.5% for men and to 34.5% from 9% for women in the three decades through 2010, according to government data. Since birth out of wedlock is uncommon in Japan, those figures translate directly into a lower birthrate, with the average woman having about 1.4 children in her lifetime.
Masahiro Yamada, a Chuo University professor who coined the term konkatsu in 2007, says the problem is many young men nowadays don’t have secure jobs because Japan’s “lifetime employment” system is fraying. Young women still hold out for a husband who can support the family on one salary, he says, and men who know they can’t live up to those expectations are less active in searching for a mate.
Other researchers cite busy work schedules for both men and women, and some young people’s reluctance to leave comfortable lives with their parents.
For Mr. Kikuchi, the konkatsu apartment developer, the real problem is housing—cramped rooms, dinky kitchens and little natural light. With settings like that, he says, it is no wonder many Japanese don’t want to bring anyone home.
His latest model, a one-bedroom apartment, fulfills all of his seven rules for a konkatsu apartment, including a spacious kitchen and shower room, so couples can cook and bathe together. The home has plenty of windows to let in natural light and was remodeled with natural construction materials such as earth with fossilized algae.
“You sleep better, you wake up feeling refreshed, and you become more active,” he says about the home’s construction. “You smile more, and your skin looks better, and you are making lots of pheromones.”
Mr. Kikuchi also consulted a Japanese “total adviser of sexuality” who goes by the name Olivia and frequently appears in local media. She suggested adding a roomy bathtub in the living room as well as soundproofing and the pole, which looks as if it could have been transplanted from a local strip club.
Olivia, who declined to give her real name, said the pole could be used to entertain a male guest or to keep fit to better enjoy sex. “A lot of Japanese women are shy and bad at using their sex appeal,” she said. “By becoming their boyfriend’s ‘private pole dancer,’ I wanted them to be able to playfully enjoy their sex life together.”
The 41-year-old Mr. Kikuchi, who isn’t half-bad on the pole himself, thinks such amenities are needed not only to get couples hitched but also to keep them enjoying each other’s company. A January survey by the Japan Family Planning Association found about 45% of married couples had not had sex in the last month, up 3.3 percentage points from the last survey in 2012.
When couples stop having sex, their relationship soon turns sour, Mr. Kikuchi said.
“It has an impact on children when they see the relationship between their parents deteriorate,” he said. “They don’t see marriage or making a family as something happy,” accelerating the vicious cycle of falling marriage and birthrates.
Akino Kanno, 34, moved into one of Mr. Kikuchi’s konkatsu apartments north of Tokyo in late 2012 after a divorce. The property, completed in 2010, has six private apartments. Mr. Kikuchi designed the property so that residents will interact. They get together a few times a year for barbecues, and there is a common bulletin board for notices.
Ms. Kanno happened to see a notice from the building’s owner on the bulletin board recommending a local drinking hole. She went with a friend and was introduced to Masaru Kanno. The two bonded over manga and food. They later married.
Mr. Kanno remembers the first time he saw the apartment. “It was so fashionable. I was very surprised,” he said. “I knew this was someone who I wanted to be family.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Mikako Tokuda moved into the same building about two years ago and found a boyfriend less than half a year later on a social-networking site. The two have since broken up, but she said that moving from her dark, one-window apartment helped her relax and find the energy to think about dating. In her old apartment, she said, there was only one electric burner, which forced her to give up cooking, one of her favorite hobbies.
And does Mr. Kikuchi need a konkatsu apartment?
Sorry, ladies, he’s already married with two children.
Write to Eleanor Warnock at eleanor.warnock@wsj.com
