Lonely pilgrims seek romance at Japan love shrine

HAKONE, Japan (Reuters Life!) - Looking for a match made in heaven? In Japan, ask the gods for help.

A day before Valentine's Day, hundreds of Japanese women sailed across the Ashino-ko lake at the foot of Mount Fuji, then trekked through a snow-covered forest to pray for love at the small red Kuzuryu shrine, a famous divine match-making site.

"I prayed for the man I love to fall in love with me," said Ayumi Sakai, a 25-year-old saleswoman who had arrived in one of two love boats ferrying more than 500 women to the shrine.

With both men and women in Japan increasingly putting off marriage to pursue their careers -- often cited as one reason behind the country's low birth rate -- lovelorn Japanese in search of a partner need all the support they can get.

Shuji Ozawa, the shrine's head priest, said about half the visitors who visit Kuzuryu throughout the year pray for a perfect match.

The more than 1,000-year-old shrine, whose name means "nine-headed dragon", is dedicated to the god of the nearby lake. It started to attract singles after some pilgrims reported that their prayers for romance had been heard.

On Wednesday, as women from all over Japan crowded around the shrine, eyes closed and hands folded in prayer while the priest's chants rang through the cold winter air, romance was clearly on everyone's mind.

"I don't have anybody to give chocolates to, so I'd like to find somebody", said 30-year-old Mamiko Murakami, an office worker.

In the Japanese version of Valentine's Day, women buy chocolates for their lovers and even colleagues, while men return the favor a month later, on White Day.

While arranged marriage used to be common in Japan, these days the vast majority of Japanese choose their own partners, and online dating sites are also gaining popularity. But demographers worry about an overall trend towards prolonged singledom due to hectic lifestyles and long working hours.

Amid the colorful display of faith at the Kuzuryu shrine, where the priest blessed the crowds and poured rice wine into the lake as an offering to the gods, one woman expressed some doubt about the ritual's effectiveness.

"So many women are praying today, it makes me wonder if my own prayer will work," Miki Kawashima, a 32-year-old nutritionist, told Reuters.

(Reporting by Hiroyuki Muramoto; writing by Sophie Hardach; Editing by Mike Miller)