Long-time readers of my blog might remember last year’s LoveDen post. Or not. Either way, I’ll explain what it is.

In Japan, the dating scene is a lot different from in the US. There’s a pretty different social/cultural atmosphere here, and partially because of shyness and partially because of business, it seems to be harder to find dates here than in the US (despite the fact that so many single people do desperately want boyfriends/girlfriends).  It’s even gone so far that recently the government has begun sponsoring dating services to help people get married. It wasn’t long ago that arranged marriages were the norm in Japan, and while they’re becoming less and less common, the tradition will probably never die off completely. Likely that cultural aspect also has played a part in the way the dating scene has evolved in Japan as well. Look at me, though, I’m getting all philosophical and away from my main point.

So anyway, the most common way to find a date here seems to be the kompa or goukon, a kind of group date in which an even number of young men and women get together for dinner or drinking and socializing. From what I’ve witnessed it seems like many people hate these kind of events and only go to them in order to help one of their friends find a date. One the other hand, many people really enjoy them too, but I suppose going to one you never know if you’re going to get set up with someone who is only there to support a friend or someone who is actually looking for a partner.

Okay, so back to LoveDen. The local rail company where my wife’s brother works has been sponsoring, for a few years now, a kompa event on a train in an effort to reach out to the younger population and get them to ride more. This event has turned out to be extremely successful and last year sold out almost immediately. To its credit, a couple from the first event eventually got married after first meeting on the LoveDen train.

Thanks to the familial connection, I was able to design last year’s poster, and I also just completed the poster for this year’s event. It’s a modification on the same theme but a little brighter. Hopefully this year’s event will be even more successful than last year’s!

LoveDen 2010 (click for a larger size)