eureka, Inc., developer and operator of the Facebook-based online dating service “pairs(Japanese / Chinese)”, today announced that the total number of registered users in Japan and Taiwan surpassed 1 million in just a year and a half after launch.

With more than 740,000 users in Japan alone, pairs outperformed its competitors and became one of the largest Facebook-based online dating services in Japan. pairs also launched in Taiwan in February and the number of users reached more than 300,000 in 4 months after launch.

About “pairs”

pairs is a Facebook-based online dating service where only users with Facebook account with relationship status of “Single” can join. The service requires age verification for registration and is monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for safety and security.

A year and half from launch, total number of registered users in Japan and Taiwan surpassed 1 million users and counting.

Online Dating in the US

There are more than 3,500 online dating services in the US alone and the market size is over $2 billion.

The use of online dating service is common in the US and there is even a study that states “1/3 of new marriages start online”.

With big services like Match.com and eHarmony with 20~30 million users and niche services for specific category such as Jewish singles, Asian singles, or divorced singles, the online dating industry in the US is well subdivided to meet the demand for everyone to find a compatible partner online .

The Future of Marriage Hunting Industry in Japan

In contrast, the culture of online dating was difficult to take root in Japan compared to the Western countries because of strong negative image left by “deai-kei sites (Japanese word for matchmaking sites)”, a negative legacy of “gara-kei (Japanese word for feature phone)” era.

That is when pairs devoted to deliver experience to users and show that it is completely different service from “deai-kei” by ensuring safety and security not just by age verification but also by monitoring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and by developing a matching algorithm that promises best possible matches.

As a result, the organic word of mouth such as “I found a partner on pairs”, “a friend married a partner from pairs” spread and the number of users exploded.

There is also a feature called “Community” on pairs. The feature created under the idea that “people cannot decide their partner just by specification” allows users to get matched by interest, making it even more easier meet with compatible partner.

Establishing Online Dating Culture in Japan and Accelerating Asia Expansion

Now that pairs became one of the largest Facebook-based online dating services in Japan, pairs must move onto the next stage, that is “to establish a online dating culture in Japan”.

Japan is facing declining birthrate and aging population, and it is a social problem for percentage of unmarried people to increase just because “there’s no opportunity to meet new people” or “there’s no compatible partner”. To solve this, pairs will devote to spread the concept of “online dating”, a much easier way to find and meet compatible partner.

By accelerating Asia expansion, which Western online dating services have not yet made a complete expansion, pairs will establish a new online dating industry that will fit Asian culture. pairs is aiming 10 million users in 10 countries in Asia including Japan and Taiwan by end of 2016.