[cgarrigue]

The image you have is probably close to how in some societies 2 families decide their children are betrothed to each other.

The reality is closer to match making: some colleagues might introduce you to somebody who could be a match. Or maybe they will invite you to what is called a goukon, a group date where one of the male participants invite a few colleagues or friends of his who are single while his girlfriend invite the same number of female colleagues or friends of hers who are single.

[mikekchar]

Though to be fair, arranged marriages are pretty common in Japan. Several of my friends have arranged marriages and are as happy as any other couple I know. I suppose you can think of it like online dating, where there is also an expectation that both parties are looking to get married. It would not surprise me at all that a company would pay the fees for a match maker if being single was causing a valued employee emotional distress. Especially foreign workers don't have family to take care of this kind of thing (sometimes parents will intervene and contact a match maker if they feel that their child is taking too long to get married).

I've never been a full time worker in Japan, except in my own consulting company (obviously -- otherwise I would still be there ;-) ). But with a 1 year renewable contract (the normal way to work if you are not a full time employee), I was surprised at the extent to which the company takes care of you. It's nice if you are like me where you want to concentrate on work, but I've known people who get frustrated by what they see as an intrusion on their personal affairs.

When I was working at the high school where I taught English, several times I had conversations with the vice principal who felt that me being single past the age of 40 was a problem. He even sent me to talk to the nurse so that she could explain how Japanese relationships work and impress upon me the importance of taking things seriously.

And... well... I listened. And they were right. I got married to a Japanese woman who I was dating (not the nurse ;-) ). Not only has it made my life dramatically happier, but it's helped my job incredibly (even though I'm consulting IT related stuff instead of teaching English ;-) ). But it's kind of beyond weird have that kind of intervention at work...

[toomuchtodo]

I can appreciate that having work intervene is weird, but that's the culture apparently.

Studies have shown having a partner increases wages and helps you live longer. And the Japanese live the longest. Strange coincidence.