[Hahahoru Survey on Love and Partner Views of Unmarried People Over 50] 90% of Unmarried Men and Women in Their 50s-70s Feel Lonely; Over Half Want a Partner, but Over 94% Have Not Sought a Partner for Over a Year

Choraku Choju Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nakano-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shinichiro Mononobe), which operates the doctor-supervised matching service 'Hahahoru' for people aged 50 and over, conducted a 'Survey on Love and Partner Views of Unmarried People Over 50' targeting 2,000 unmarried men and women aged 50-79 nationwide. Currently, Japan's aging population is accelerating, with approximately half of the total population aged 50 or older (*1). Furthermore, research has reported that socially isolated elderly individuals have a 20% higher risk of all-cause mortality over six years compared to non-isolated elderly individuals (*2), making the increase in health risks due to isolation an urgent social issue. The survey results showed that over 90% of unmarried middle-aged and senior generations tend to feel lonely. It also became clear that while more than half are seeking a partner, over 90% have not looked for a romantic partner for more than a year. *1 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau 'Population Estimates' https://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/pdf/202603.pdf *2 Atsushi Nakagomi, Masashige Saito, Toshiyuki Ojima, Takayuki Ueno, Masamichi Hanazato, Katsunori Kondo, Sociodemographic Heterogeneity in the Associations of Social Isolation With Mortality. JAMA Network Open.;7(5):e2413132, 2024 1. Over 90% of unmarried middle-aged and senior generations fall into the 'lonely group'. Approximately 70% have no one to talk to about trivial matters. 2. Tendency to seek 'friends/partners' over 'marriage partners'. Large gender gap in desired distance from the opposite sex. - The most desired new relationship for both men and women is 'same-sex friends'. - Men tend to seek 'one-on-one relationships', while women tend to seek 'group relationships'. - About 30% of men seek 'friendships including physical relationships', while 0% of women do. 3. Over 60% of unmarried middle-aged and senior generations answered they want a lover/partner. What they seek in a relationship is 'peace of mind' over 'thrill'. - 60.2% answered 'I want a lover/partner'. Men (66.1%) outnumbered women (44.0%). - The most desired quality in a partner was 'being able to be oneself, relaxed, and comfortable' (64.1%), about four times higher than 'excitement and thrill' (16.2%). 4. Only 3.8% are actually actively dating. Meanwhile, there are signs of change in the psychological barriers to matching services. Detailed Survey Report 1. Over 90% of unmarried middle-aged and senior generations fall into the 'lonely group'. Approximately 70% have no one to talk to about trivial matters. In this survey, to understand the extent of loneliness among unmarried middle-aged and senior generations, we conducted a survey using the widely used 'Japanese version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3, 10-item version)'. This measured not only the objective state of being single but also the 'subjective loneliness' each individual feels, visualizing the reality of loneliness in this generation. *In this report, scores on the Japanese version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3, 10-item version) are defined and analyzed as 10-15 points 'low loneliness group', 16-24 points 'medium loneliness group', and 25-40 points 'high loneliness group'. The survey found that 62.5% were in the 'high loneliness group' and 31.5% in the 'medium loneliness group', revealing that over 90% (94.0%) fall into the lonely group. This shows that loneliness among unmarried middle-aged and senior generations is a social issue that cannot be overlooked. Furthermore, a survey on partner views targeting 500 unmarried men and women currently without a lover/partner found that about 70% of the total answered 'I have no one or few people to talk to about daily trivial matters'. By gender, this was 54.5% for women but reached 72.7% for men, revealing that men, in particular, lack someone to casually share daily events with. 2. Tendency to seek 'friends/partners' over 'marriage partners'. Large gender gap in desired distance from the opposite sex. Next, regarding 'new relationships they would like to gain', 'same-sex friends' was the most common for both men (74.6%) and women (78.4%). On the other hand, 'marriage partner' was the lowest for both genders at 41.2% (men 45.4%, women 29.9%), showing a tendency to seek relationships for sharing daily life rather than marital ties themselves. Regarding the desired relationship with opposite-sex friends, men most sought 'a friendship that allows one-on-one interaction (49.4%)', while women most sought 'a friendship involving multiple people (69.9%)'. The proportion seeking 'a friendship that could lead to romance in the future' was about three times higher for men (33.8%) than for women (10.8%). Furthermore, the proportion seeking 'a friendship including physical relationships' was 29.4% for men, but 0% for women, showing a large gender gap in desired relationships with the opposite sex. 3. Over 60% of unmarried middle-aged and senior generations answered they want a lover/partner. What they seek in a relationship is 'peace of mind' over 'thrill'. Next, we surveyed whether they are seeking a partner or lover. It was found that 60.2% of the total are seeking a 'partner or lover'. By gender, the proportion seeking a lover/partner was higher for men (want one 29.5%, would be happy to have one 36.6%) than for women (want one 9.7%, would be happy to have one 34.3%). As for what they expect from a new relationship, 'being able to be together without pretense, relaxed, and comfortable' was the most common for both genders (men: 62.3%, women: 69.8%). This far exceeded 'being able to feel romantic emotions like excitement and thrill', showing a tendency to value a sense of security and comfort over stimulating romantic feelings. 4. Only 3.8% are actually actively dating. Meanwhile, there are signs of change in the psychological barriers to matching services. While over 60% are seeking a partner, only 3.8% answered that they are currently active in 'seeking a new romantic partner'. Furthermore, over 90% answered that they 'have not looked for a romantic partner for over a year', revealing a reality where they seek relationships but do not take action. According to a survey published by the Children and Families Agency (2024) (*3), 'matching apps (25.1%)' were the most common way married people aged 15-39 met their partners, showing that online encounters are spreading among younger generations. On the other hand, in this survey, interest in matching services among unmarried middle-aged and senior generations was only about 10%, with images such as 'it feels scary (31.6%)' and 'it's for young people (26.0%)' still prevalent. Also, compared to a similar survey conducted by our company in 2025, 'use