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If you are living in Japan, I think you have heard of many different types of Dating Apps. But since there are a lot of different types of app, you might find it difficult to decide which one to use.
This article will provide you with basic information that allows you to find the app that suits your needs.
I hope the information can help you to have a better understanding on Dating apps in Japan!
Want to Meet Japanese People? Use Dating App!
Do you want to get a Japanese lover? Do you want to have get more chance to talk to Japanese people? Many foreigners who come to Japan wish to talk to Japanese people and get a Japanese lover. However, getting a Japanese boyfriend or girlfriend might be much difficult than you think because Japanese people are very shy. So even though you want to meet Japanese people, it is difficult for you to do so if you don’t have the opportunity. I have a friend who is from Vietnam, and he wanted to talk to Japanese people to practice his Japanese but he did not have such community. What he tried was to use dating app to talk to random girls in Japanese. From his experience, I learnt that Online dating app can be a good way to connect Japanese people and foreign people in Japan.
Why You Should Use Japanese Dating App
There are different Online Dating app in Japan, but I recommend you to use dating apps that are made in Japan.
Tinder and Bumble are famous in Japan, and you can meet Japanese and foreign users that are looking to date. However, if you want to meet Japanese people, then you should use Dating Apps that are made in Japan. In Japan, people tend to look for serious relationships, so there are higher chance of meeting Japanese people if you use Japanese apps.
Female Users Are Free!
If you are female, you can use most of the dating apps for free. This is because company has to gain enough number of female users to attract male users to purchase their service, and it is actually very hard for the company to get enough female users. If you are male, you are required to pay certain amount of money every month if you register for dating app. Therefore, you need to be extremely careful if the app you are using is reliable.
Be Careful of Fake Profiles!
One thing you need to be careful when you use dating app is ‘fake profiles’. When the company of the dating app found that their number of users are decreasing, they might set up fake users that actually do not exist to make them look like they are popular. Most of the app requires you to pay certain amount of money, so make sure that the app you are using is trust worthy.
You can also find users who are paid by the company to attract users. Some of the users keep sending you messages even though they have no intention to meet you, because if he or she send you message he or she will be rewarded by the company. Why do companies do so, is because they have to keep attracting the users before they get bored and leave the app.
One way to make sure that the credibility of the app is to check the company. If the app is operated by a renowned company, then the app should be reliable because large company tend to have stricter restrictions to protect their reputation. ZEXY Koi Musubi and Matchbook are operated by Recruit, famous HR company in Japan so they tends to be more credible then other app. Therefore, it is important to check the company that is operating the dating app.
So be careful of fake profiles!
Which Dating App Should I Use?
So which dating app should I use? You can decide which app to use according to your purpose. Are you looking for someone who can be in a committed relationship? Or you just want to have a casual relationship?
The type of person you can find on dating app are different, because different dating apps are targeting different users. If you are looking for a serious relationship rather than casual relationship, Omiai, With and ZEXY Koi Musubi. If you are looking for a casual relationship, Pairs, Happy Mail, Tapple and Matchbook will be suitable for you.
What Are the Famous Online Dating Apps in Japan?
There are a lot of company in Japan that launch new Online dating app, so it might makes you very hard to choose which app to use. In order to give you a general idea on the Online Dating App industry in Japan, I listed up 9 famous online dating app in Japan.
Omiai
Price: JPY2787~/Month
Omiai is considered as one of the most reliable and renown Dating App in Japan.
Omiai & Pairs are considered to be the 2 strongest online dating app in Japan, but what makes Omiai different from Pairs is that Users in Omiai demands ‘serious’ relationship. Many users of Omiai are looking for marriage partner, therefore you tend to find calm and self-possessed person at Omiai.
You can set up your own preferences for your possible mate. You can customize your interest such as income, body type, education and nationality.
Omiai is reliable because it requires your Facebook account or phone number when you register. Also the application is monitored 24hours everyday, so you won’t find any fake profiles at Omiai.
Pairs
Price: JPY3480~/Month
Pairs is another strong app in the Dating App Market in Japan. Although it is relatively young compared to other dating apps, it is growing rapidly.
One of the benefit of using Pairs is the simple structure of the app that makes new users easy to join. You won’t need Facebook account to register for Pairs. The design and aesthetic of the app also lean towards woman applicants so it makes woman easy to use.
Even though the matching rate is high in Pairs, we cannot guarantee that there are no fake profiles. According to many users, you can find fake users on Paris so be careful when you choose your potential partner.
Happy Mail
Price: Pay per use
Happy Mail is also a well established app; Happy Mail was launched in 2011, and they now have 12 Million users. Unlike Omiai and Pairs which you need to pay monthly bills, Happy Mail charges you according to the number of mails you sent to other users. You will need to spend 1 point to send an mail, and it costs 1000yen for you to purchase 100points. It can be cost-effective if you can find your partner quickly.
One big advantage of using Happy Mail is the huge number of users in the rural area. While many users of other dating apps are focused in the central Tokyo, The user of Happy Mail is scattered all over Japan so you can find a lot of users even if you are not living in Tokyo.
With
Price: JPY1800~/Month
With is operated by a listed company called IGNIS Ltd. This app is directed by DaiGo, who is a famous mentalist in Japan. You are able to take a psychology test and they will find you a suitable person based on your test result. Another strong point of this app is the price; it cost you 1800JPY per month which is relatively cheaper than other services.
The target users are also relatively young compared to other apps. 60% of the male users and 70% of the female users are in their 20s. If you want to meet young Japanese people, With will be suitable for you.
PCMAX
Price: Pay per use
PCMAX is another large app that you should know. Like Happy Mail, you will need to pay according to the number of mail you sent to other users. There are relatively a lot of woman who are registered in this app, so if you are male you will have a higher chance of matching.
However, PCMAX has one huge disadvantage. A lot of girls in PCMAX are fake profile.Therefore if you want to use PC MAX, be careful! I have a friend who invested 20000yen into PCMAX and ended up meeting no-one.
Tapple
Price: JPY2317~/Month
Tapple is an unique dating app designed by Cyber Agent. Cyber Agent is one of the famous IT company in Japan. This dating app will match users with same interests and hobbies. Once you registered for the app, users will be shown on your list and you can choose according to your preference. According to the official website of tapple, 7200 people can find a lover through tapple every month. This application is also growing in a rapid speed. 4500 new users are registered to tapple every day.
Since this app is operated by Cyber Agent, famous IT company in Japan, the credibility is high. Therefore, the number of users are also high compared to other services.
CROSS ME
Price: JPY2900~/Month
Here is another interesting app. If you are bored of using ordinary dating app, CROSS ME will be a good choice for you. CROSS ME will match users who passed each other in real life. CROSS ME will give you a list of users who are living close to you or stayed close to you, and you can contact them as you like.
If you walk a lot, you may have a chance to meet 10 person a day! If you are bored with other dating apps, CROSS ME would be a very interesting choice. Most of the people in CROSS ME is looking for casual relationship, so the matching rate is comparatively high.
Zexy Koi Musubi
Price: JPY2592~ /Month
ZEXY is a wedding planning magazine published by Recruit Co. It is the most famous wedding planning magazine in Japan, and they are now expanding their business to Online dating app.
ZEXY Koi Musubi is an online dating app specialized for people to find their potential marriage partner. There are 3,000,000users and the Man to Female ratio is 2:1. You might think that the age of the users are high, but you can find a lot of users in their 20s.
If you want to register for ZEXY Koi Musubi, you must need a Facebook Account, so the users are 100% reliable. However, because the number of users are decreasing these years and the users are demanding serious relationships, the matching rate is low compared to other dating app.
Matchbook
Price: JPY3980~/ Month
Matchbook is another dating app that is produced by Recruit Group. Compared to ZEXY, this app is designed for person who are interested in a more casual relationship.According to my friend who has used matchbook, most of the girls in Matchbook are in their 20s and most of them are looking for casual relationship rather than serious relationships. The structure is very similar to Pairs, but the number of users are smaller than Pairs.
Enjoy Using Online Dating App in Japan!
There are a lot of different types of Online Dating apps in Japan, and you can find a lot of different opinion towards them on the internet. If you are new to online dating app, it might be safer for you to start from Omiai or Pairs, because they are the most popular apps in Japan. If you are bored of using ordinary dating apps, you might try using other apps and see if you can find someone good.
If you are looking for someone to marry, ZEXY Koi Musubi is the best choice for you because it is specialized for people to find marriage partner.
If you are interested in using Online dating app, why not try using one! You can have a chance to talk to many Japanese people, and have a new experience in Japan. Even if you cannot get a lover, it is also a good chance for you to practice your Japanese and know more about Japanese culture.
Read about Relationships in Japan:
