Match-Making Agencies Have Received a Surge of Inquiries《双语》
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Undaunted by cancellations of parties and dating opportunities due to the new coronavirus pandemic, many singles in Japan looking for a marriage partner have found a silver lining in virtual gatherings.
由于新冠病毒疫情，派对和约会机会都被取消了，但日本很多单身人士并不畏惧，他们通过虚拟聚会找到了希望。
A total of 400 people took part in matchmaking parties in April via an online conferencing platform organized by LMO Corp. based in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, which began holding such virtual gatherings in late March.
今年4月，共有400人通过日本西南部福冈的LMO公司组织的在线会议平台参加了相亲会。该公司从3月底开始举办这种虚拟聚会。
In contrast, just 10 to 20 people joined when the matchmaking agency launched its one-on-one online marriage meeting service in January, before Japan saw a major outbreak of the virus.
相比之下，这家婚介机构今年1月推出一对一网上婚介会服务时，只有10至20人参加，当时日本还没有出现大规模的病毒爆发。
"Following the virus outbreak, we were set to cancel a face-to-face matchmaking party scheduled for March, but it suddenly came to my mind to hold it in a virtual format," said LMO President Kota Takada.
LMO总裁Kota Takada说:“病毒爆发后，我们计划取消原定于3月举行的面对面相亲会，但我突然想到要以虚拟的形式举行。”
The company has been organizing online matchmaking parties every day since April and recently has held them at least twice a day. The parties are organized based on where participants live and their age groups.
自4月份以来，该公司每天都在组织网上相亲派对，最近每天至少举办两次。聚会是根据参与者的居住地和年龄来组织的。
"They are no different from face-to-face parties, except that participants see others through their screens," Takada said. "I believe people in fact find them convenient and relaxing because they don't need to go to the venue."
高田说:“这和面对面的聚会没有什么不同，除了参与者可以通过屏幕看到其他人。”“实际上我相信人们会觉得这样很方便也很放松，因为他们不需要去现场。”
Joined by eight men and eight women in principle, LMO's one-hour online parties usually begin with a group conversation in which members introduce themselves before switching to talk person-to-person.
LMO的在线聚会，原则上是由八男八女组成，一小时的在线聚会通常以小组对话开始，成员们先做自我介绍，然后再进行面对面的交谈。
Matchmaking services have been flourishing in Japan, a rapidly aging country with a declining population. Its total fertility rate -- the average number of children born to a woman -- has hovered around 1.4 since 2012.
日本是一个人口减少的快速老龄化国家，婚介服务一直在蓬勃发展。自2012年以来，该国的总生育率-妇女所生子女的平均数量-一直徘徊在1.4左右。
A 36-year-old female contract worker in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo said the coronavirus epidemic and the insecurity she feels as a result has made her keener than ever to find a partner.
东京附近琦玉县一名36岁的女合同工说，冠状病毒的流行以及由此带来的不安全感，令她比以往任何时候都更渴望找到伴侣。
"I don't have the confidence to live on my own, working as a nonregular employee, in the economic downturn caused by the virus pandemic," she said.
她说:“在因冠状病毒疫情造成的经济低迷时期，我没有信心靠打零工独立生活。”
She had joined several face-to-face matchmaking parties a month, but all the events were canceled in April. One man she wanted to take things further with told her they cannot meet until the epidemic is over.
她每个月参加过几次面对面的相亲会，但所有的活动都在4月份取消了。一个她想进一步接触了解的男人告诉她，在疫情结束之前，他们不能见面。
Contents Innovation Program even launched an event that employed AI robotics bridging the gap between tongue-tied daters.
红娘活动的内容创新项目，甚至还举办了一场活动，利用人工智能机器人来消除缄默不语的约会者之间的隔阂。
The event centered around RoBoHon, a charmingly cute miniature droid developed by CyberAgent and Sharp. Participants answered a 40-question survey and loaded their responses into the droid. As singles "mingled," a pair's robots openly discussed their "client's" history. If the daters liked what they heard, they had the option of initiating a real conversation.
这次活动围绕着RoBoHon展开，它是一个由赛博公司和夏普公司开发的可爱的微型机器人。参与者在调查中回答了40个问题，并将他们的回答输入给机器人。连接起一对单身者时，两个机器人公开讨论他们“客户”的历史。如果约会的人对他们所听到的感兴趣，他们可以选择发起一场真正的对话。
Cooped up in their homes alone for an extended period, singles are getting lonely—hence the surge in business for match-makers, explains Amano Kanako of NLI Research Institute, a think-tank
NLI研究所的智囊，天野加奈子解释说，单身人士长期独自呆在家里，变得越来越孤独——因此红娘服务生意兴隆。
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