In Japan, a growing number of parents are attending matchmaking events to find partners for their adult children, according to Aju Press, reporting on 26 October 2026.
According to Aju Press, citing a Yomiuri TV report and a survey by Japan's Children and Families Agency, 35.1 percent of unmarried men and women in Japan have no intention of getting married. Against that backdrop, parents in their 50s to 70s are taking part in events where they review profiles setting out potential matches' occupations, personalities and family backgrounds.
At a parental matchmaking event held in August at a hotel in Kyoto, about 80 percent of participating parents were in their 60s and 70s, while 90 percent of the children they represented were in their 30s and 40s, according to Aju Press. If both sides reach an agreement, they exchange profiles and photos and consult their children about whether to proceed.
According to Seoul Daily, which covered similar proxy matchmaking events earlier in 2026, the actual marriage rate from such events is around 10 percent, though organisers say the true figure may be higher because parents often do not report back when a match leads to marriage. Parents at these events often weigh family composition and home environment, while noting that a candidate's personality is hard to judge from a profile alone.
The motivations are practical as well as emotional, according to Aju Press: parents hope their children will not be alone in later life, and some children who feel overwhelmed by dating apps prefer a partner vetted by their parents.
Photo: The historic Gion district in Kyoto (file photo). Photo by Zairon, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.