With a work culture that is notoriously demanding, and a diminished working-age population, Japan is grinding its workers to exhaustion. And this is making Japanese women reluctant to waste valuable time on dating, preferring to marry blindly instead.

‘No sex please, we’re Japanese!’ Sensational headlines suggest that Japan’s sexual appetite is waning; half the population aren’t having sex. But as a country that boasts more sex establishments than there are McDonald’s outlets in America – with 1.4 million couples visiting them daily – is this lack of libido a myth?

By 2020, Japan's prime minister Shinzō Abe wants women to fill 30% of the nation's senior management roles. Yet despite efforts to get women into work, a growing number are targeting domestic bliss. Are dreams of a family funded by a high-earning husband anything more than a fairytale?

Love and Produceris a mobile game that lets players groom romantic relationships with a series of virtual boyfriends. In China's dating scene, where women are under enormous pressure to pair off before a certain age, the escapism offered by simulation games is drawing women in by the millions.