The Newest Keyword in Japan is Konkatsu, or “Marriage Activities”

Japan is a fast-moving place, and you never know what new boom is just around the corner. One year, women might be flocking to fortune-tellers who promise to divine the future based their blood type, then it might be educational quiz shows in which famous TV personalities sit in “class” and answer questions about various subjects, then get graded as if they were students. One word that’s on people’s lips a lot these days is konkatsu, meaning “marriage-related activities,” i.e. the various things that women and men do to to find the right person to marry.

The idea comes from a book called The Age of Konkatsu which argues that people should put as much effort into finding the right marriage partner as they do in finding employment. As a result of this “marriage boom,” a lot of single Japanese are thinking about the best way to find Mr. or Ms. Right, and are using the various services that exist for this purpose, such as omiai (formal arranged meeting) introduction companies. Considering Japan’s low birthrate — currently the lowest in the world at 1.34 children born per female, compared with 2.1 in the U.S. — I certainly am happy about this new trend, and wish everyone many happy babies.

Be sure and check the title of the book this girl is reading:

Japan is currently having a boom in konkatsu or “marriage activities.”