FUKUOKA--A 40-year-old corporate worker thought she was an exception to the common belief that males have the upper hand on the matchmaking scene here because she had a boyfriend.

She has known since she was in her 20s that Fukuoka is referred to as a city where the women outnumber the men.

But when COVID-19 cases spread in spring 2020, she broke up with her boyfriend even though she was thinking about marrying him.

She registered with a marriage consultation agency almost immediately and continued meeting potential partners.

The woman became part of a common sight in Fukuoka, with many men and women facing each other, looking a little nervous, in hotel lounges in the central part of the city on weekends.

Lounges are a popular place for pairs to meet each other for the first time after they are introduced through marriage consultation agencies or other matchmaking services.

At first, the woman was hoping to find someone also residing in Fukuoka because it offers the best living environment for her.

Her family and friends are living nearby, and she also works here. It is not difficult to get around without a car in the city, which boasts many places for entertainment.

It was out of the question for her to move from Fukuoka.

COMPETITIVE AREA FOR WOMEN

However, she hardly had a chance to meet potential candidates living in Fukuoka because many of those who would satisfy her expectations lived outside Fukuoka Prefecture.

As she went online to gather information, she grew anxious when she came across a video referring to Fukuoka as a "highly competitive ground for women."

Since then, she expanded the range of acceptable partners and is now dating a man living outside the prefecture, she said.

One of the population characteristics of Fukuoka is that there are many young women living here.

The latest census shows that women in their 20s through 30s outnumber men by about 20,000, with the difference particularly noticeable when compared to other cities.

According to leading marriage agency IBJ Inc., women account for 60 percent of its registered members in Fukuoka Prefecture as of the end of September, surpassing men by about 570.

Past censuses show that the female population in the city already outnumbered males by about 4,000 as of 2000, with the difference widening year after year.

Data on residents moving in and out of the city show a tendency for women to flock to Fukuoka from other prefectures in the Kyushu region while men move out of the region.

According to a report on internal migration compiled in 2021 by the internal affairs ministry, the number of women in their 20s who moved into Fukuoka from across the Kyushu region and Yamaguchi Prefecture outnumbered men by about 1,500.

On the other hand, the number of men in their 20s who moved out of Fukuoka to the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, surpassed women by about 600.

WOMAN-FRIENDLY WORK ENVIRONMENT

One of the underlying causes for the male-female discrepancy is the city's unique industrial structure.

In Fukuoka, those working in the service sector account for 86 percent of all workers, the highest percentage among major cities and Tokyo's 23 wards.

Because there are many workplaces with a relatively large number of female employees, such as clerical workers, sales clerks and service attendants, "many women flock to the city mainly from the Kyushu region and Yamaguchi Prefecture," a city official said.

It also seems that women are drawn to Fukuoka in consideration of their families and career choices.

According to Sachiko Sata, who works as a matchmaker at Happiness, a marriage consultation agency operating in Fukuoka and Saga, the fact that Fukuoka is a major city and is accessible via public transportation makes the city popular for women from the Kyushu region and convenient for them to visit their parents. 

With an increasing number of women placing importance on continuing to work after marriage, "many women shy away from marrying men who are subject to relocation by their companies," she said.

Meanwhile, a key issue is the outflow of men.

According to a survey on the employment situation of students who graduated from 12 colleges in Fukuoka in spring last year, only about 20 percent of students in science courses, which are taken by many male students, found jobs in Fukuoka while 60 percent moved out of the Kyushu region.

That is apparently because they have limited employment opportunities due to the fact that companies in the manufacturing sector account for a low percentage in Fukuoka.

The city government said it intends to increase job opportunities also attractive to men by luring businesses, supporting startups and taking other measures.

However, a large female population is proof that Fukuoka is preferred by women.

They account for one-third of those who seek advice at Startup Cafe managed by the city government to support entrepreneurs, with the number continuing to rise year after year.

Yukari Murayama, 63, who has been working as an editor for an information magazine for women in Fukuoka for many years, said that females have always been attracted to the city, with the busy Tenjin downtown area seen as a place of longing among women from the Kyushu region.

She said many women opt to go independent and start their own businesses because the city offers an appropriately sized market.

"There are many talented women in Fukuoka, so they should promote themselves to higher positions empowered to make decisions," she said.