Oh, Japan! - Blind(folded) Dating

Ever been on a blind date? Yeah, me neither. Mostly because I joined the military and got married right out of high school and now spend all of my time writing about silly shit in Japan on an anime forum...

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What am I doing with my life?

Blind dates tend to be with people you've met online through social media or a dating service, or with people whom you've met through a mutual contact. Oh, and you know nothing about one another. Pretty straightforward, right? No awkward water cooler conversations, no bizarre seduction rituals that you learned from your dad or from Gary, the coolest guy you know. Just a blank slate and a reasonably priced dinner at a family restaurant with the mutual understanding that it may lead to a second, somehow even more expensive date at a local Starbucks.

But how often do blind dates work out? Or any date, for that matter? According to one MSNBC survey, as many as 44% of Americans are single. Maybe they're just bad at dating? Maybe their dates are just ugly? Maybe they're just ugly?

Fear not, for one dating event in Japan is looking to put the blind back into blind dating, with blindfolds, to create a quite literal sense of blindness. Kurayami Kon is seeking eligible bachelors and bachelorettes to engage in a dating exercise which will focus on personality over looks. Sold, yet? Well, it gets better.

Without being able to see your would-be partner, a lot of opportunities for observational small talk and inappropriate staring fly out of the window. So, in order to help potential couples bond, Kurayami Kon will feature a mystery for guests to solve, using their other four senses. Details, however, are still being kept under wraps, but one can likely expect it to be similar to an "escape room" mystery (escape (or the necessity thereof) not guaranteed).

Interested? Great. Depending on your gender, that'll be 4,600 Yen ($40.00 USD) or 7,600 Yen ($67.00 USD), for women and men, respectively. Part of the fee goes to cover the cost of the snazzy venue which you won't actually be able to see, because of, you know, blindfolds..

Oh, and one more thing - the event is only open to men ages 23 - 28 and women ages 20 - 35. Why the arbitrary age ranges? I have no idea.

The premise is interesting, to say the least. Personality is a huge factor when choosing a partner and agreeing to enter a relationship. But, it's not everything. As nice as the idea behind valuing personality over appearance is not inherently a sound or practical one. For most of us, appearance plays an important role in our attraction to others. And there's nothing wrong with that.

But, maybe you do value personality far above a person's appearance, and that's fine too. And what's more, you have a blind date, in Japan, just waiting for you.

Source: RocketNews24
Image Credit: PR Times

 

From a business perspective, this makes perfect sense.

Why would any female go into this knowing that they could theoretically get paired up with an old geezer? The same goes for men, why would you even try it if you could get paired up with an old hag?

By restricting the age like this, it gives customers more confidence that they could get paired up with someone who they could/would actually date, and customer confidence = money for business owners. The last thing any business wants is a bad reputation.

 

It's one thing to stipulate that it's for young adults, but it's kind of odd to have separate age ranges by gender.

 

Well, if I were to guess, it's that some guys might be into older women, while some older women might want younger guys.

I'm just guessing here, but maybe the wider age range for women is so that more women can sign up for it, and the more women they get the more men they will get cause men go where the women are.

 

The key to any first date is eye contact and picking up visual ques. If a conversation is entering a dead end or what I call "no go zones" you can tell right off the bat based on what the other person is doing. Mindlessly drinking when you are talking (excessive water drinking is a sign of nervousness), eyes wandering the room instead of you (both genders do this but expect to be called out if you're a male), playing with their hair (women stop that it's annoying), playing with their food (children do this when getting scolded), playing with their phone (Everyone hates this), picking their nose...(Yes I seen this). etc.

If you can't see the other person then it's hard to tell if you have their attention. Then again the novelty of the idea makes for a conversation starter not to mention eliminating the annoying distractions so that's something.

 

Now we just need to completely learn the Japanese language!

 

Well, the event takes place on 26 March 2017, so you have just under a month. Good luck!

 

Only problem is that I miss the age limit by one year.
And... I'm not in Japan.