Defeating the mighty Spain and Germany!　The World Cup in Qatar was a great success for the Samurai Blue team, and the whole of Japan was on fire. The sight of young people dancing wildly at Shibuya&#8217;s Scramble Crossing and Osaka&#8217;s Dotonbori was widely reported in the media, but there is a little-known spot in Gotanda, Tokyo, that was the scene of &#8220;Qatar&#8217;s joy&#8221;.
 The owner of the Nishiguchi branch of &#8220;Kekkatsu Bar ZOE,&#8221; a singles-only bar near JR Gotanda Station, confides, &#8220;Basically, our bar is for single people only.
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 Basically, if we can&#8217;t confirm that you are single with a bachelor&#8217;s certificate, year-end adjustment document, or a copy of the family register, we won&#8217;t allow you to enter the bar. However, we only remove this restriction when we hold public viewing for occasional big events such as the World Cup. It becomes a rare meeting place where the clientele changes from the usual.&#8221;
 When this magazine visited the restaurant on November 27, during the Japan vs. Costa Rica match, it was already fully booked, with about five counter seats and two table seats, and more than 20 men and women in their 20s and 30s were cheering as they watched the Samurai Blue team&#8217;s exciting performance on the screen.
<figure id="attachment_278716" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-278716" style="width: 1479px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="82519637"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/12/17197534149155_m.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-278716" class="wp-caption-text"> The atmosphere inside the restaurant was bright and lively. Customers who had never met each other before were enjoying the Costa Rica match with a glass in hand.</figcaption></figure>
 We ask our customers to make a toast to each other at the beginning. Even if they are meeting for the first time, if it is during the World Cup, for example, they can get excited over the common topic of soccer. It makes it easier to deepen our friendship because we have a chance to talk.
 In fact, when the reporter made a toast with the customer in front of him, the World Cup talk began smoothly, with comments such as, &#8220;Kaoru Mitoma&#8217;s dribbling is world class, isn&#8217;t it? The owner, who insists on a natural atmosphere, does not adjust the ratio of male to female customers, so there are days when there are only male customers.
 There are days when there are only female customers (laughs). (Laughs.) But that&#8217;s okay. We do follow up to create a bit of an opportunity, but if you put too much effort into meeting people because it&#8217;s a marriage activity bar, you will get tired. Even so, we have had 50 couples so far, and 5 of them have gotten married. If you get married, you will be banned from the bar (laughs).
 One regular customer, a man from Kanagawa Prefecture, excitedly told us, &#8220;Watching the World Cup by myself at home is a great experience for me.
 I thought it would be lonely to watch the World Cup by myself at home, so I came to &#8230;&#8230;. It was a great decision. I can talk about my favorite game, soccer, and most of all, there are many beautiful women. Are there many beautiful women among soccer fans?　I have been going here for almost a year now, and I have an image that there are a lot of people here who work for foreign companies or are very professional. There is a hassle of having to prove that you are single to enter the store, but that makes it less likely that you will get cold feet. Once you come to the store, you exchange contact information with two or three people. But unfortunately, I haven&#8217;t reached my goal yet (laughs).
 A female customer who was sipping a cocktail near the reporter was interviewed.
 A male acquaintance of mine, whom I have seen frequently at the restaurant, explained about soccer enthusiastically while watching a World Cup match. I thought he might not be my type, but he changed my view of soccer.
 Japan lost 0-1 to Costa Rica, and the restaurant was filled with screams of &#8220;Oh! But despite the salt game, zero customers left the store. After that, the heated game between the uppity men and women continued until midnight.
<figure id="attachment_278720" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-278720" style="width: 1109px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="86a62859"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/12/17197534109751.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-278720" class="wp-caption-text"> The &#8220;Marriage Activity Bar-ZOE&#8221; West Exit Branch is housed above a Chinese restaurant. There is also a main restaurant nearby, but public viewing was held only at the Nishiguchi branch on this day.</figcaption></figure>
 The &#8220;Marriage Activity BAR&#8221; may become a new way to enjoy watching soccer games in the future.

 Masamune Ida

 Yuri Adachi (Shibuya)

 The World Cup was a great success. The fans weren't the only ones who were inspired by the Samurai Blue team's success. Marriage activity bars were also on the rise!

Men and women who are lonely to watch the World Cup games alone gather at a &#8220;marriage activity bar&#8221; on the day of Japan&#8217;s World Cup team selection!

Men and women who are lonely to watch the World Cup games alone gather at a “marriage activity bar” on the day of Japan’s World Cup team selection!

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