As Korean travel trends in Japan shift from major cities to smaller towns, changes are also emerging in the nature of Korea-Japan exchanges. Enrise, the operator of the social dating app WIPPY, reported that an analysis of Korea-Japan matching data revealed that interactions between Korean and Japanese users are expanding beyond Tokyo and Osaka to cover the entire country.
According to WIPI, while Tokyo and Osaka still accounted for the highest number of Korea-Japan matches, regional Japanese cities such as Kanagawa, Fukuoka, and Nara prefectures also ranked among the top. Particularly noteworthy is that conversations with users from smaller cities continued for longer and deeper periods.
The average number of messages with users in small Japanese cities such as Niigata, Kagawa, and Ehime was found to be about 2.8 times higher than that with users in Tokyo and Osaka. Wipi analyzed that this shows that while interactions with users in large cities are relatively broad and fast, relationships established with users in small cities tend to continue more sustainably.
WIPI: Korea-Japan Matching Changes Due to Japanese Small Town Craze… Conversation Volume of Small Town Users Up 2.8 Times (Data provided by WIPI)
Beyond travel trends, connecting people
Recently, in the Japanese travel market, travel to smaller cities such as Takamatsu and Matsuyama, where one can experience local daily life and culture, is gaining popularity over Tokyo and Osaka. Wipi explained that this shift is also influencing the culture of online exchange.
In fact, it was found that Korea-Japan matching is not limited to specific regions but is occurring throughout Japan. The longest distance matching cases were confirmed between Seogwipo, Jeju and Hokkaido (1,687 km), Goyang, Gyeonggi and Okinawa (1,274 km), and Iksan, Jeonbuk and Aomori (1,316 km).
The characteristics of users in small cities are also noteworthy. The proportion of women among users in small Japanese cities was found to be 77.8%, which was higher than the 61.6% proportion of women in the Tokyo and Osaka regions. Additionally, 66% of users in small cities were in their 20s, with an average age of 28.8 years.
Wipi analyzed that interaction with Koreans is being perceived as a more special experience due to the combination of regional characteristics, such as fewer opportunities for contact with foreigners compared to large cities, and an interest in Korean culture.
In Korea, the small city matching rate was found to be high among users in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province; Gangnam-gu, Seoul; Goyang, Gyeonggi Province; Gwanak-gu, Seoul; and Busanjin-gu, Busan.
“This result shows that Korea-Japan exchange is expanding beyond a simple relationship between tourists and locals into an emotional connection between individuals,” said Heo Hyeong-gu, Product Owner of WIPI Japan. “Conversations with local mates met at travel destinations are becoming a channel for the deepest understanding of each other’s cultures, going beyond the exchange of information.”
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