More than half of Japanese men in survey spent Christmas alone, women more likely to be OK solo

Single women more likely to see the upside of spending Christmas without a date.

Christmas Eve is the biggest date night of the year in Japan, when festive decorations and the element of surprise in exchanging presents creates an atmosphere both romantic and whimsical. But just because it’s the biggest date night of the year doesn’t mean that everyone is out on a date, as a recent survey reminds us.

Matchmaking company IB Japan recently polled 424 of its users (214 men and 210 women) who have gotten married though their service, asking them to think back to how they spent Christmas when they were single. Out of the men, the majority, 50.9 percent, said they spent it alone. And “alone” here really means alone, as in not only not on a date, but not with friends or family either.

● How did you spend Christmas when you were single? (answers from men)
1. Alone: 50.9 percent
2. Working: 22.4 percent
3. With family: 10.7 percent
4. On a date: 7.9 percent
5. With friends: 6.5 percent

Women, on the other hand, were far less likely to spend Christmas alone. Not only were they almost twice as likely to be on a date, they were about three times as likely to be celebrating with friends or family.

● How did you spend Christmas when you were single? (answers from men)
1. With family: 29.5 percent
2. With friends: 20 percent
3. Alone: 19.5 percent
4. Working: 15.7 percent
5. On a date: 14.8 percent

What’s more, the women who did spend Christmas alone were much more OK with it than the guys were. When asked how they felt about being alone, responses for “I was lonely” were pretty similar, at 38.5 percent of men and 34.1 percent of women. But the percentage of women who said being along was “nice because it was relaxing and stress-free,” 26.8 percent, was almost double the number of men, 15.6 percent, who felt that way.

▼ Having no one around means nobody can spoil your inner Christmas cheer.

As always when sorting through statistics, there are a few things to keep in mind when sorting through the data. Perhaps most importantly, the survey was conducted among users of a matchmaking service, and IB Japan is particularly focused on marriage-minded people who are looking for serious relationships. Because of that, it’s possible that the survey participants are primarily people who didn’t have particularly active or fulfilling love lives playing the field prior to seeking professional help finding their soul mate, and odds are a complete survey of the entire Japanese population would spit back lower numbers for the amount of people spending Christmas alone. At the very least, though, the survey suggests that if you’re spending the season dateless, you’re not some kind of weirdo, and it’s not something you need to feel bad about.

Source: PR Times via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso
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