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romance

New Dating Sim Follows Time-Tested Story Blueprint of Boy Meets Alpaca

Video games have made pretty steady progress into the cultural mainstream. Even people who aren’t gamers themselves can at least see the entertainment potential of a Mario title with its breezy fun, or the sweeping adventure of a Final Fantasy.

A genre many people have a harder time wrapping their heads around, though, is the dating simulator. Sure, driving games like Gran Turismo let us tune and race cars so expensive we can’t even talk the dealer into giving us a test drive in real life. And while Japan does have a royal family with princesses, the country’s lack of fire-breathing dragons means our chances of having to pick up sword and shield to go rescue them are slim, at best. But a game about going on dates? Couldn’t we just, like, ask someone out in real life?

Apparently some developers feel the same way, and have decided to spice up their dating sims with scenarios that take full advantage of video games’ unique style of escapism. Read More

How to be Popular with Japanese Girls in Seven Steps

I think I speak for all of the male writers here at RocketNews24 when I say that we have no trouble finding dates. For example, I’m so attractive that I have to beat women off with a stick. Or, was it that the last woman I asked out beat me with a stick? Sorry, my memory is a little fuzzy these days. Probably from being hit in the head with sticks.

But for our loyal readers who lack my powerful pheromones (B.O. is a kind of pheromone, right?), we present seven tips for attracting girls in Japan, as originally compiled by Niconico News.

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Say “I Love You” this Christmas with these Romantic Potato Chips

It’s nearly Christmas! And that can mean only one thing: romantic dates on December 24th!

What? Did you think we were talking about the pagan festival-cum-Christian holiday on December 25th? No, no, no; the 25th is just a normal working day here in Japan, and everyone’s already forgotten about Christmas. People without plans for December 24th, however, might as well join the ranks of those who use trains on dates and pay money to sleep next to strangers.

With the romantic dates of December 24th, Valentine’s Day and March 14th’s White Day in its sights, snack maker Koikeya is about to launch a new range of potato chips — or crisps to backwards Brits like me — made especially for couples. And thanks to some clever packaging, Koikeya guarantee that these new chips will be the most romantic salty snack you’ve ever enjoyed…

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Japan’s “Rent-a-Boyfriend”Dispatch Service: Because Japanese Women Get Lonely Too

Japan provides its lonely men with plenty of way to find sweet respite from the emptiness and isolation of everyday life—provided you have the cash. And we’re not just talking about prostitution: you can rent a girlfriend at Moé Date for day of “simulate romance” or find a cuddle partner at Soine-ya to help you rest easy at night.

But what about the ladies? Women get lonely too, so it seems unfair that such services would only be available to men.

Believe it or not, even before either of the above establishments were in business, there was Soine-ya Prime, a dispatch service where women can hire a handsome young man to lay with her in bed for a night.

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New Japanese “Rent-a-Girlfriend” Service Offers Simulated Romance, and Probably a Little More

There are many young Japanese men who, even if they want to go on a date, have little confidence in their ability to carry out an engaging conversation with the opposite sex. Maybe they’ve been so caught up in work that they’ve forgotten what constitutes interesting table talk, or maybe they’ve never even been on a date before. Maybe they’ve never even spoken with a woman before.

Whatever the case, there are guys out there who feel lost when it comes to showing a lady a good time. To those men, we recommend “Moé Date”, a new Japanese dating service where you can rent a girlfriend for a day of real simulated romance. What better way to get back in the game than with a little warm up, right fellas?

That said, we sent one of our own dried-up correspondents, Daiichiro Tashiro, on a three hour Moé Date to find out if the service could reignite the flame of passion that once burned in his heart.

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It’s Not Like on TV: “80% of Korean Men Without a Car and Home of Their Own Never Find Love”

As Korean culture becomes ever more popular throughout the world, with Korean romantic dramas in particular finding millions of fans in Asia, it may come as a shock to some that “cars and property” are listed by many Korean women as two of the most important factors when looking for love.

During a “Korean Drama special” version of a popular dating show that aired in China last week, fans of Korea’s heartwarming love stories had their dreams smashed by Korean men and women who gave their honest opinions of the state of love and romance in their homeland. Rather than handsome young men in suits plucking plain-faced girls from the crowd or rogueish artists finding love with the understanding girl next-door, cash, cars and cribs factored into the equation for more than Chinese audiences had been led to believe, filling the studio with gasps and the sound of broken dreams scattering across the floor...

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【Survey】When do Japanese People Have Their First Kiss? When Did You Have Yours?

Japanese men aren’t known for being the most romantically aggressive bunch. Many young Japanese women lament over having to take the lead just to get out of the dugout and onto first base.

If Japanese guys are so reluctant to get touchy-feely, you’ve got to wonder: at what age do Japanese people have their first kiss?

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Why Japanese Girls Are a Better Catch Than Japanese Men: The Thoughts of a Japanese Cabin Attendant

In this age of global travel and internet communication, meeting and even getting seriously involved with someone from outside your country is a very real possibility. For that matter, how do Japanese women and men rate as romantic interests? Takako Matsushita, a Japanese cabin attendant who has also appeared on T.V. and in magazines, offers her perspective on how Japanese women may get higher marks than Japanese men in the international dating market. And her message? Japanese men need to watch out, or all the nice ladies in Japan may be snatched up by foreign men! Read More

The State of the Kiss in Modern Japan

There is all kinds of kissing all over the world, but traditionally, in Japan there has only been two kinds and they are the romantic kissing done by couples or kissing babies.  Public displays of affection have always been frowned upon, and still are: a kiss on the lips is serious business.

Not to mention how unnaturally kissing comes to most Japanese.  The moment for a romantic kiss on any Japanese drama looks excruciatingly uncomfortable, especially in comparison to the “eat each other up” passion of western dramas.  The jidaigeki, or Japanese period dramas, feature absolutely no kissing.  With this in mind, SK Planet Japan did a survey on 400 20 to 30-year-old men and women to find out young Japanese people’s views on kissing—which is actually pretty interesting considering that kissing has always been an almost taboo subject.

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There’s Something About Sawa

As the Japanese women’s soccer team walks away from the London Olympics with a respectable yet somewhat regrettable silver medal, many of them will return to a normal life.

For Homare Sawa, the national team’s top scorer and Fifa’s Woman Player of the Year, this means she can finally get back to her secondary claim to fame – sex symbol.  If there’s one thing international fame has brought to Sawa, it is an expanded legion of men who would like to spend some time together.

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