NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW – May 14 – Tokyo-based marriage agency Sunmarie says inquiries about its services were up 20% in April from the same month a year ago. The company began offering 40-minute, free online consultations the day after the government declared a state of emergency on April 7. Many customers say the coronavirus has given them an opportunity to think about their future. Most people seeking consultations are in their 20s to 40s and the majority are women. Kekkonjoho Center, which runs the Nozze marriage agency, has been offering free spouse-hunting advice since April 10. Inquiries have risen 10% from a year ago. Tokyo-based Eureka has added a video call feature to its Pairs dating app.
Category: Nozze.
Matchmaking Based on “DNA Compatibility”
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN – Feb 13 – Genetic matchmaking is entering the mainstream. Earlier this year, Nozze, a Japanese dating service, established a DNA Matching Course and hosted a related DNA Matching Party. For 86,400 yen ($790), men are paired with prospective dates based upon 16K variations in HLA gene complexes. There is also Swiss pioneer GenePartner, Houston-based Pheramor and services that combine genetic and non-genetic profiles like Instant Chemistry and SingldOut. Since the 1970s, researchers have found that variations in the genes of the major histocompatability complex (MHC) play a role in mate selection in mice. Swiss biologist Claus Wedekind did a study known as the sweaty T-shirt study. Researchers had men wear T-shirts for extended periods of time. Then they had women sniff the shirts to rate the former wearer's sexual attractiveness. They found an inverse correlation between MHC similarity and attraction score. Harvard geneticist George Church has championed another version of compatibility. Using whole genome sequencing, he hopes to match couples to reduce or eliminate many inherited diseases.
by Mira Michels-Gualtieri & Jacob M. Appel
See full article at Scientific American
See the top news on Nozze. See the top news on SingldOut
See the top news on GenePartner See the top news on Instant Chemistry
See the top news on Pheramor
Japanese Sign up for DNA Matchmaking as Country Faces Demographic Crisis
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – June 22 – One critical new criteria for finding the perfect partner was recently added to Japan’s fast-paced dating world, with the launch of a new service that promises to find love based on DNA compatibility. Created by the dating company Nozze., which operates 21 branches across Japan, DNA Matching works with scientists at a Tokyo laboratory in order to decode the science of attraction and find the perfect match for its clients. Earlier this week, new government figures revealed that almost half of Japanese singles who wished to marry were unable to find a suitable partner, with 60% admitting they were not doing anything to change the situation. Satoru Fujimura, PR manager of Nozze., said: "We believe 50% of a person's attraction to another person is due to DNA. And the other 50% is environment. We believe that people with the most different types of DNA (HLA) make the best couples."