尋找真愛有多難? 日本村莊印'男青年日曆'徵婚

To seek marriage for local young men, a village in Japan came up with releasing calendars with pictures of young men in the village.

近日，日本一個村莊想出了發行印有村裏年輕男子照片的日曆的招數，來爲當地男青年徵婚。

Finding a partner in Otari, a village in Nagano prefecture in Japan, is proving a thankless task for Keito Kobayashi and his friends.

對於啓純小林和他的朋友們來說，在小谷村找一位伴侶是個很不容易的任務，小谷村是日本長野縣的一個村莊。

Young women are more likely to leave in search of jobs and partners, while the men are expected to stay and inherit family farms and businesses, leaving them with little prospect of marrying and having children.

年輕女性更傾向於外出尋找工作和伴侶，而男性則要留下來繼承家庭農場和生意，這使他們結婚生子的希望渺茫。

In the past decade, the number of residents has fallen from 3,734 to 2,795, including fewer than 180 children of primary and middle school age.

過去10年裏，小谷村的人口從3734降至2795，其中包括不到180名中小學學齡兒童。

According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, its population will fall to just over 900 by 2060 if current demographic trends persist.

日本國家人口和社會保障研究所稱，如果當前的人口趨勢持續下去，到2060年小谷村的人口將降至900多人。

Kobayashi and 10 other men from Otari are the faces of Japan's ticking demographic time bomb.

小林和其他同樣來自小谷村的10名男性正是日本人口定時炸彈的縮影。

They hope their calendar poses will generate interest from potential love matches and help end their search for love and companionship.

他們希望自己在日曆上的身影能引起潛在婚戀對象的興趣，也能幫助他們完結對愛情和伴侶的探尋。