Virtual lovers win Japanese hearts
Jonathan Watts in Tokyo
Thursday January 18 2001
The Guardian

Bandai, the Japanese firm that gave the world the Tamagotchi electronic pet, has come up with a different breed of cyber-chick: the virtual girlfriend.

Chatty, coquettish and guaranteed to return your messages, the new brand of computer-generated lover has won the hearts of more than 30,000 men, who have signed up to the Love by Email service. 

Using internet-capable mobile phones, the men pay 300 yen (about £1.70) each month for a relationship with one of seven "fantasy" women, who include a teacher, a barmaid and a nightclubbing student. 

Each day, the men exchange up to three emails with their partner in an attempt to chat her up. The women's responses - determined by computer program - alter according to the time of day, the season and the kind of questions asked. 

Declarations of love after just a few emails are dismissed with contempt, while any discussion of sport gets short shrift. But ask the right question at the right time and the girlfriend melts into intimacy. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't get back to you sooner, but I was in the bath. You should see my tub. It's enormous and there's a big window in front of it. Message me soon," writes cabin attendant Katsuko Shinjo. 

There is never any hanky-panky. Progress is measured on a chart that shows how many of the woman's 52 secrets the man has been able to uncover and what percentage of her heart he has won. 

At the end of the relationship, which can last from one to three months, a successful lover will be given an everlasting commitment of love. An insufficiently attentive suitor is dismissed as a creep. 

Bandai says Love by Email is one of its most popular mobile internet games with a strong following among men in their 30s. Some customers have become so enamoured, that they have called the company asking for their electronic lover's phone number. 

"Men don't get as many emails as women so they appreciate this service, which ensures that there is always an interesting message in their in-box, even if it is from a virtual companion," said Toru Itabashi of Bandai Networks. 

He said a version launched last month for women -My Prince Charming - fared less well, attracting only 1,000 subscribers in its first three days. 

Such businesses are an offshoot of the explosive growth of the mobile internet in Japan. Thanks largely to the popularity of NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service, about 30m people have an internet-compatible cellular phone. 

Such phones enable users to buy airline tickets andbuy shares online, but most consumers use them for games, fortune-telling and exchanging emails with friends - both real and virtual.

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