Dating websites and apps were big before but are even bigger now, no doubt influenced by the pandemic that made it harder to do the usual things like go to nightclubs, konpa group dates, or even your school campus to hook up with someone. There are many such apps on the Japanese market: Tapple, with, Dine, Pairs, Omiai, and more. We're not sure if it's the local market leader based on current user numbers, but Tinder must be the most famous because of its overseas prevalence and the money it spends on advertising (even recruiting Kiko Mizuhara to front its campaign). Its just gave a big ...

It's common enough to read reports about male celebrities dating women a decade or more their junior. What about the ladies? The actress Chiharu Niiyama is now 41. She married a famous baseball coach in 2004, gave birth to a daughter in 2006, and then divorced in 2014. Along with small acting roles, she has continued to maintain a public profile, most recently through social media. Last year, to mark her fortieth birthday and twenty-fifth year as an actor, she did a swimsuit gravure shoot for the first time in two decades. The results were jaw-dropping, as we wrote at the time. No doubt ...