Photo: iStock
Waka Ikeda
19/09/2025 22:31
"My salary covers rent and loans, period," he says, chopsticks frozen mid-air. "Romance? That's for people with time and money."
Masashi represents Japan's 4-trillion-yen(€26.7 billion) "solo economy"—an entire market built on loneliness. Restaurants install silent dining rooms. Solo travel bookings doubled in five years. Karaoke chains profit from soundproof booths where salarymen belt out love songs to empty walls.
This boom coincides with demographic collapse. Single-person households jumped from 21% in 1985 to 38% today, surpassing nuclear families for the first time since WWII. Japan recorded fewer than 475,000 marriages in 2023—the lowest since reconstruction. Marriage rates crashed 40% since 2000.
Despite massive government spending—4% of GDP on family policies—young Japanese face financial barriers. Real wages plummeted 840,000 yen(€5,600) annually since 1997, devastating prime family-forming years.
Tokyo couples under 35 earn 450,000(€2,800)-520,000yen(€3,330) monthly, yet decent apartments devour 190,000 yen(€1,100) —over 40% of income before groceries. Housing prices nearly doubled as wages flatlined, creating a generation priced out of partnership.
"I want to marry," says Yuki, 28, marketing professional, "but I work until 10 PM most nights. Even if I met someone wonderful, we couldn't afford living together."
Her sentiment reflects broader reality: while 81% of unmarried Japanese want marriage, only 30% are dating. One-third never had relationships.
Japan's corporate culture sabotages family formation. The country funnels women into lower-paying positions while fast-tracking men—creating the worst gender wage gap among developed nations. Women earn just 78% of male salaries.
The "tanshin funin" system routinely separates families through mandatory corporate transfers. Half of employees over 35 have been relocated, with approximately 70% living apart from families.
Most remarkably, the 2025 July upper house elections saw major parties campaign to roll back overtime protections—simultaneously spending 5.4 trillion yen encouraging births while maintaining work cultures preventing parenting.
Social isolation has reached crisis levels. An estimated 1.46 million Japanese aged 15-64 experience "hikikomori"—prolonged withdrawal—up from 1.15 million in 2018. This mirrors China's "lying flat" movement, suggesting East Asian youth collectively abandon traditional life goals.
Demographics drag Japan's GDP growth down 0.5-0.7 percentage points annually. Social security costs balloon from 121 trillion yen today to 190 trillion(€701.8 billion to €1,102 billion) by 2040 as the working-age population shrinks 30% by 2050.
Hungary cracked the code through comprehensive reforms: subsidized housing making family formation financially possible, tax exemptions for mothers, mandatory workplace flexibility protecting family time, universal childcare. They removed barriers rather than throwing money at symptoms.
Japan's loneliness industry thrives because sustainable family life became economically unfeasible. The government spends 5.4 trillion yen encouraging births while enabling corporate culture to prevent parenting—a contradiction that would be laughable if not tragic.
The choice is binary: transform conditions driving youth toward isolation, or watch the solo economy become Japan's dominant reality as traditional society disappears forever.
Time runs out. Each year makes necessary changes costlier and harder. Japan has resources to save itself—will profit trump survival?
The author is a Tokyo-based freelance opinion columnist specializing in East Asia's society and culture. Her work appears in Nikkei Asia, The Japan Times, Newsweek Japan and other international publications, offering insights into contemporary East Asia for global audiences.