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The wedding and bridal market in Japan was forecast to amount to *** Japanese yen in 2025, staying around the same size as in the previous two years. The severe decrease in 2020 was mostly due to restrictions implemented to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Reasons behind a declining wedding market 

The Japanese marriage market has suffered substantial losses over the past decades, mainly due to a change in demographics. Declining marriage and birth rates, long life expectancies, and therefore, an aging population spawned the rise of a solo society. Another commonly cited reason is a hesitance to get romantically involved, resulting in lower chances to find the right partner to marry. Economic factors also play into the equation. With more women wanting to live independent lives, the need for financial support through a husband becomes obsolete. If couples decide to get married after all, they lean towards smaller parties, indicating a change in values away from big, lavish events to more intimate, bespoke ceremonies.

 Growth opportunities: online matchmaking services

While the actual wedding market, including venues, apparel, gifts, and honeymoon trips, among others, has shown a downwards trend recently, matchmaking services are enjoying a growing popularity in Japan. Particularly, online dating services are expected to continue their growth spurt in upcoming years. As the Japanese wedding and matchmaking market was like many other event-focused industries heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, people increasingly turned to digital alternatives to fight solitude. Amid the pandemic, traditional matchmaking agencies started to move their offline portfolio online, providing paying customers with a platform to search, meet, and (video) date potential partners in an entirely virtual environment.