Japan’s marriage rates are dropping like a stone. After reaching peaks of 1.20% in 1947 and 1.05% in 1971, they’ve fallen steadily year after year.
The impact on Japan’s population is hard to ignore. Recent numbers from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs show that the population fell by 900,000 in the past year. That’s a 16-year record.
There’s one group, however, who are more than happy to get married in Japan: South Korean men. The reasons why vary. However, for many men, it’s because Korean culture has created too high a barrier to getting married at home.
Avoiding housing costs by looking for love
South Koreans flock to Japan regularly as tourists. Until recently, according to data from the Japan National Travel Organization (JNTO), the country was Japan’s number one source of tourism. (It’s been eclipsed again by historic standard-bearer China.)
Some marriage agencies, however, are helping them find their life partner. TBS News Dig interviewed one man, 35-year-old Ha Gyonmin, who’s invested quite a bit in the process. To date, he’s spent over one million yen ($6,780) in both fees and flights back and forth between South Korea and Japan.
Why is he doing this? According to Ha, it’s because he doesn’t think he can prepare for marriage in South Korea in time.
Traditionally, men in the country are expected to have a home purchased for their family-to-be prior to marriage. Ha wanted to get married in Korea in his 30s. But given his present savings, he doesn’t think he can have enough for a house without taking out a loan until age 40.
Hence, Ha’s looking for love in Japan. Since Japanese women don’t have the same cultural expectations, he thinks the process might be easier.
8,000 applicants from South Korea
He isn’t the only one. Matchmaking agency DAYRIE, based in Tokyo’s Setagaya, specializes in matching South Korean men to Japanese women. The company says it has 8,000 applicants.
"Noah [at Unseen Japan] put together an itinerary that didn’t lock us in and we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo, he guided us personally on a walking tour. Overall, he made our Japan trip an experience not to forget." - Kate and Simon S., Australia
It might seem like an odd choice for those who know the history between the two countries. Japan’s invasion of Korea in the early 20th century has left behind a lingering resentment of Japan in SK.
Meanwhile, in Japan, anti-Korean racism is pronounced. It was the driving force behind the Kanto Massacre of 1928. Today, racist hate speech against Koreans – particularly Zainichi Koreans, the descendants of those who came to Japan during the colonization of Korea – remains commonplace.
At the same time, Korean culture remains popular in Japan. The country has gone through four “Korean Waves,” spikes in popularity driven by cultural phenomena such as Korean drama and K-POP.
As a result, says Ibaraki University researcher Sasano Misae, there’s less resistance among young Japanese women towards marrying men from South Korea. To the contrary: women who’ve grown up with Korean media tend to see Korean men as charming and attractive.
As I write this, Japan is currently in the grips of a “Japanese First” movement that’s riling up anti-foreigner sentiment. It’s unclear what impact this will have on foreigners living in Japan or on international marriages. For the time being, however, it’s nice to read a story that reminds us love knows no borders.
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Sources
日本で婚活する韓国人男性急増 “結婚相手が見つかるまで何回も来日” 結婚相談所に申し込み殺到. TBS News Dig
日本の婚姻率と離婚率の実情をさぐる(2024年公開版). Yahoo! News JP
訪日外客数（2025年6月推計値）. JNTO
還流. Wikipedia JP
