How the Japanese use dating apps

The Japanese used for dating apps is actually an English loan word, “matching”, so I’ll use that in this survey from Dimsdrive into matching apps and COVID-19.

In Q3, there were only five matching apps listed; surely there must be more than that?

Looking at the usage stats, perhaps not surprisingly men spend longer on these apps and are much more likely to spend money on extra services.

I met my wife through their predecessors, the classified ads in an English-language newsletter thing. We both experienced similar patterns of usage and payment to those reported here.

Survey results

Q1: Do you know about matching apps? (Sample size=5,385)

	Yes (to Q2)	Just heard the term	No
All N=5,385	27.0%	34.1%	38.9%
Male N=2,717	24.8%	34.5%	40.7%
Female N=2,668	29.2%	33.7%	37.1%

Q2: Have you used a matching app? (Sample size=1,453)

	All N=1,453	Male N=673	Female N=780
Currently using	23.9%	26.9%	21.3%
Used to use	33.2%	30.9%	35.1%
Want to use	15.3%	18.7%	12.3%
Don’t want to use	27.7%	23.5%	31.3%

Although if we add the “Currently using” and “Used to use” percentages together, we get 830 people who have had experience of matching apps, but from here in the sample size is 623. As I understand it, the first two questions were sceening questions, so perhaps the missing 207 people didn’t complete the full survey or were otherwise removed from the detailed portion below.

Q3: Which matching apps have you used/are you using? (Sample size=623)

Pairs	60.5%
Tapple Tanjo	34.5%
with	26.5%
Omiai	23.8%
Tinder	19.1%

About 8 percentage points more women than men are on Pairs, whereas Tinder is over 11 percentage points more men, or about five men for every three women. All the others have relatively balanced male to female ratios.

Q4: How long have/had you been using matching apps? (Sample size=623)

	Male N=263	Female N=360
Less than a month	7.6%	12.5%
Less than two months	14.1%	12.8%
Less than three months	12.5%	13.6%
Less than six months	16.0%	15.6%
Less than a year	14.8%	15.3%
Less than two years	11.8%	7.5%
Less than three years	6.8%	4.7%
Over three years	6.5%	3.6%
Don’t remember	9.9%	14.4%

This question was preceded by an unpublished question like “Have you ever met someone in real life through a matching app?”, and 71.4% said they had.

Q5: How did meeting someone in real life through a matching app go? (Sample size=445)

	Male N=180	Female N=265
Currently going out with someone	25.6%	25.7%
Went out, but broke up	32.2%	26.4%
Got married	5.0%	3.4%
Met someone, but didn’t click	43.9%	53.2%
Became friends	13.3%	13.2%
Other	5.0%	2.6%
Don’t know, don’t remember	1.7%	1.1%

The next two questions were preceded by an unpublished question like “Did you start using matching apps after the state of emergency was declared?”, (the start date was April 7th for major cities, then the 16th for the whole country) and 20.9% said they had.

Q6: Why did you start using a matching app after the state of emergency was declared? (Sample size=130)

	Male N=60	Female N=70
Wanted to meet someone new	45.0%	55.7%
Started thinking about my future	23.3%	35.7%
Wanted someone to talk to	26.7%	18.6%
Was lonely by myself	25.0%	18.6%
Had free time due to spending more time at home	15.0%	15.7%
Had just split up with my previous partner	16.7%	12.9%
Wanted to be with someone	18.3%	8.6%
Increasing number of people around me were doing it	11.7%	5.7%
Was lonely as I couldn’t meet my/a partner	8.3%	5.7%
Other	5.0%	2.9%
No particular reason	5.0%	5.7%

Note that I’m not sure of the exact translation of “Was lonely as I couldn’t meet my/a partner” – was it that they couldn’t chat people up in real life, or was it that due to the state of emergency, etc, they couldn’t travel to meet an existing partner.

Q7: Have you had a date with someone through a matching app during COVID-19? (Sample size=130)

	Male N=60	Female N=70
Yes (to Q8)	63.3%	57.1%
No	36.7%	42.9%

Q8: What kind of date did you have?

	Male N=38	Female N=40
Met in real life	52.6%	75.0%
Had online date	39.5%	20.0%
Both real life and online dates	7.9%	5.0%

It’s now back to the full sample with this question.

Q9: Have you had any trouble with matching apps or services? (Sample size=623)

	Male N=263	Female N=360
Yes (to Q10)	44.9%	42.8%
No	55.1%	57.2%

Q10: What kinds of trouble have you had? (Sample size=272)

	Male N=118	Female N=154
Face didn’t match the profile picture	43.2%	36.4%
Got stood up, cancelled at last minute	30.5%	31.8%
They were just interested in sex, not a relationship	11.9%	36.4%
Tried to recruit me into an MLM, religion	22.9%	14.3%
Body shape fraud	27.1%	10.4%
Abusive messaging	13.6%	12.3%
Age fraud	14.4%	10.4%
Relationship status fraud	10.2%	9.1%
Marital status fraud	8.5%	9.7%
Height fraud	6.8%	9.7%
Birthplace, place of residence fraud	11.0%	5.8%
Income fraud	6.8%	2.6%
Job description, grade fraud	6.8%	4.5%
Asked for money	8.5%	3.2%
Family fraud	5.1%	4.5%
Gender fraud	6.8%	2.6%
Other	3.4%	5.2%

Q11: Have you used a paid-for matching app, service? (Sample size=623)

	Male N=263	Female N=360
Yes (to Q12)	73.8%	13.6%
No	26.2%	86.4%

Q12: How long have you used a paid-for matching app, service? (Sample size=243)

	Male N=194	Female N=49
Less than a month	9.3%	16.3%
Less than two months	16.5%	18.4%
Less than three months	16.0%	20.4%
Less than six months	21.6%	22.4%
Less than a year	16.0%	8.2%
Less than two years	7.7%	2.0%
Less than three years	5.2%	2.0%
Over three years	2.6%	0.0%
Don’t remember	5.2%	10.2%

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 7th of September 2020 5,385 members of the Dimsdrive monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All the sample were single smartphone users aged between 20 and 49 years old. No further demographics were provided.