Remote cohabitation, or How to create couples on Skype in Japan

In the Land of the Rising Sun, a new format of relations between guys and girls – remote cohabitation has now become very popular. No one knows how long ago this strange trend appeared, but they started talking about it after this topic was raised in one of the popular TV shows in Japan. What is remote cohabitation and will it become popular with us?

On June 21, 2021, the TV show Hatori Shinichi on TV Asahi channel raised the topic of remote cohabitation and told the whole world about a completely new format of relations between young people. The program reported that every year in Japan, the number of young men and women who consider themselves a couple, but living separately at will or due to circumstances, is growing.

Communication between such lovers takes place with the help of video calling applications, such as Skype or Line. Lovers spend time together in video broadcasts, which can last for many hours in a row and even the whole night. One of these couples, invited to the studio, admitted that she does not close the application when going to bed, so that in the morning they can wake up together.

For these young people, Skype works almost all the time when they are not busy with work. They are now working remotely, from home, so disconnecting from the broadcast symbolizes "going to work". The couple sees no other option to be close together, because he lives in Tokyo, and she lives in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The lovers described all the advantages of this format of relations. It does not require constant interaction and adaptation to each other's habits and daily routine. Everyone lives the way they are used to, but the open application helps to feel connected with the second half throughout the day. A man and a woman, even without getting into the field of view of a webcam, do not lose a sense of connection, because they hear each other's life – the work of a hair dryer, the clink of dishes, the noise of the TV or music.

Independence is one of the most important advantages of remote cohabitation. Relationship experts who were present in the studio during the show claim that such "remote" couples can be stronger than traditional ones. Partners do not put pressure on each other, they should not get used to the peculiarities of each other's life, but simply live in parallel, as everyone wants. Despite this, the unity in such a pair is well felt and only grows stronger over time.

It is customary for Japanese young people to watch movies together and have dinner with Skype turned on, discuss the news and even arrange parties. Enjoying the company of a pleasant person next to you and at the same time completely belonging to yourself is worth a lot, so remote cohabitation is gaining momentum as a popular trend.

This is not a new phenomenon in Japanese culture, but the coronavirus pandemic with its limitations has made the format even more popular. If you can work remotely, then why can't you start relationships online? At the same time, psychologists and some other specialists do not consider the trend to be positive.

Japan is a country of lonely people who live, work and die alone. A number of psychologists and sociologists believe that the popularity of cohabitation via Skype increases the disunity of people, creating the illusion of human communication. In addition, some experts define remote cohabitation as a special form of behavior disorder, close to voyeurism.

Can remote cohabitation become popular in our country, because Japan has already "infected" our youth with anime, cosplay and many other curiosities? Most likely, no, because our people have a completely different mentality and, fortunately, the Russian person always prefers live communication to correspondence, calls and broadcasts. And Japan… what else can you expect from a country where there is a minister of loneliness in the government?