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’Tis the season for potentially very short romantic relationships.

There’s less than a week to go until Christmas Eve, the biggest date night of the year in Japan. Some singles without plans may be feeling emboldened because of a recent survey in which 55 percent of the unattached Japanese women polled said that they’d be willing to accept a Christmas Eve date invitation from anyone with the confidence and courage to ask, but a separate poll from another organization shows some less flowery emotions may be at play.

Wedding planning Internet portal Wedding Park conducted a survey of women between the ages of 20 and 39, asking them what they think of the concept of a “Christmas Eve-only boyfriend,” or, in other words, going out with a guy on Christmas Eve even if they don’t feel like they’re going to want to see him again after that.

Out of the 253 responses received, roughly one in four women said they could see themselves going out with a Christmas Eve-only boyfriend, with 9.1 percent saying “definitely.” Agreeing in a less enthusiastic manner, 30.4 percent said they’d also be OK accepting an invitation from a guy on the unilateral presumption that it’s going to be a one-time-only deal.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that these women are simply using the holiday season as a means to an end to satisfy their cravings for attention and pampering. When asked why they’d be OK going out with a Christmas Eve-only boyfriend, more than one woman’s response contained positive sentiments and even-headed logic. “I could go out with a Christmas Eve-only boyfriend if it would help us both not feel lonely. Maybe a romance would even develop between us after that,” said one woman in her early 20s. “If we have fun together, and it feels romantic, that’d be great,” chimed in another respondent in her early 30s.

So while that first date might be a Christmas miracle, it sounds like anything after that is going to depend on legitimate chemistry and mutual attraction.

Source: Wedding Park
Top image: Pakutaso
[ Read in Japanese ]

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