Marriage agencies in Japan

02 February 2009
The International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi)

The inability of many young Japanese men and women to find partners on their own has placed marriage agencies in an enviable position.

As many as 600,000 people--60 percent of them men--are thought to be relying on help from one or more agencies to meet their prospective life partners. Their quest for companionship has inflated the industry's market value to 50 to 60 billion yen, according to the economy ministry, which oversees it. But as the industry grows, so do customer complaints about business practices as well as churlish rivalries among operators

A system designed to certify excellence among agencies, introduced by a nonprofit organization (NPO) in December, has failed to bring order to the nebulous trade. Not long after the move was announced, a different group declared it would issue a rival certification later this year

The confusion shows no sign of abating

The first push to regulate Japan's vast array of marriage agencies began in January 2007, when a team made up of academics and others created an NPO to consider qualification systems for marriage councilors and other life consultants

The Japan Lifedesign Counselors' Association (JLCA), headed by Hiromitsu Haraguchi, a former official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, drew up a certificate for excellent marriage agencies and finished screenings in December

JLCA has already awarded its "Certificated Matchmaking Service (CMS)" credential to 176 offices in 36 prefectures. Among the recipients, which account for about 4 percent of the industry, are heavyweight operators Zwei and Sunmarie. Beneficiaries of the CMS mark are entitled to display it in their offices or advertisements for three years

To screen agencies, JLCA used guidelines devised last July by the Service Productivity and Innovation for Growth, a body made up of academics, bureaucrats and businesses and headed by Jiro Ushio, one of Japan's pre-eminent business leaders

The guidelines include: EWhether an agency has clearly defined the nature of its services; EWhether it advertises its services without exaggeration; EWhether it explicitly reveals conditions for entering into contracts and canceling them; and EWhether it protects the privacy of its members

JLCA is funded by a screening fee (157,500 yen per case) and CMS mark display fee (8,400 yen a month)

"Because we don't (directly) rely on marriage agencies for our (operating) funds, we're able to carry out screenings in an impartial way," said Haraguchi

One recipient of the CMS mark is Tokyo-based Ginza Avenir, which has a membership of about 350 people

"There are all sorts of companies in this industry, including disreputable ones, so this system is useful because it allows me to elevate my brand. It's also helpful for consumers," the firm's representative Yurika Kitagawa said

The government-affiliated National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan received 2,974 complaints or consultations about marriage agencies in fiscal 2007. That figure is not lower than it was in 2004, when the industry became subject to regulations under the law on specified business transactions. Most complaints and consultations concern contracts or their cancelations. Typically a disgruntled client might argue that "the solicitation (to become a member of a marriage agency) was coercive" or that "when I canceled my contract halfway, I was made to pay exorbitant cancellation fees." In response to JLCA's move, however, 12 agencies and related bodies complained the screening fee was too high and the screening process too vague. The group includes O-net, Japan's biggest operator

In a December meeting, the group decided to set up a new organization and issue a different certificate from the end of the year

"Behind the move are a rivalry between major marriage agencies and a competition for members," an industry source said

The one-upmanship has confounded the economy ministry. An official from the ministry's Service Industries Division, however, was diplomatic: "These actions (of the two rival camps) are voluntary so we can't comment on them. We just hope that the confusion will be eventually resolved in a way that can obtain understanding from consumers." According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the average ages of men and women who married for the fist time in 2007 were 30.1 and 28.3 respectively. In 1970 they were tying the knot about four years sooner

Whereas in the past, unions between young men and women were commonly orchestrated by friends, colleagues or--especially in rural areas--older women in their community, now such matchmaking is less common.