By Juliet Hindell in Tokyo

Ikumi Ohashi meets her new date for the first time - on a mobile video phone.

The 29-year-old is one of thousands of lonely hearts who are looking for love in a very hi-tech way.

The first date takes place in comfort over the tiny digital screen of the phone only after both people have checked out each other's vital statistics again through the telephone.

Sizing up

Ms Ohashi says it is much more efficient than traditional dating.

"Recently Japanese women's ideals have been getting higher, so it's probably more difficult to meet Mr Right," she says.

"With the videophone you can find out in advance what they look like, what they do, and how much they earn. Then if you decide to meet you don't have to go through all that. It's really convenient."

The service is the idea of the Marriage Information Company which has been matchmaking for 25 years.

However, hi-tech love does not come cheaply. It costs $3,300 to sign up for videophone dating. Women do get the phone free but men have to pay a further $300.

Easy love

Masayuki Iwata of the Marriage Information Company says the phone dating service makes love easy.

"Japanese people love new gadgets so lots of people want to try this out," says Mr Iwata.

"When you're choosing a date, you want to see their photo. In the past, we had to use the postal service so it could take a month before you saw any pictures.

"With the videophone it takes just five minutes and if you've seen a photo you can't be disappointed when you actually meet."

Of course, this phone does not mean that romance is dead in Japan. However, it does reflect a society that is becoming more anonymous, where more people live alone and where people are getting married later.

Men on average marry when they are 28 years of age and women marry when they are on average 26. These statistics are two years older than in the 1980s.

Better technology

The mobile videophone is the idea of Kyocera and so far it is the only model in the world.

The company will not say how many they have sold so far but their target is 50,000 units by March.

Hajime Kimura, a marketing manager at Kyocera, believes the videophone improves human communications.

"Until now the phone was limited to the voice, but now it can be visual too," he says.

"It makes communication much easier but also more profound. It's like returning to the origins of communication - speaking face to face."

Dismissed

Ikumi Ohashi looks at the vital statistics of some potential mates on the videophone's screen.

Even though she gets five to 10 inquiries from men a day, this time there is not anyone she fancies.

She pushes the reject button. It sends a message back to the hopeful man that she is not interested.

Ikumi, who has given herself a year to find a husband, says that the money is a good investment if it leads to marriage.

As for romance, that may still come for Ms Ohashi.

"It's very practical. First you check the data, then you look at the photo and then you meet. Love can grow out of this."

Fifty-four million people, nearly half of Japan's population, now own a mobile phone. Dating is just one of the ways in which these devices are changing people's lives.

Many phone users these days do not even speak on the telephone. Instead, they use them to send or receive e-mail, check their stock investments or the weather for a weekend of surfing.

It all means they do not actually have to speak to anyone. In Japan these days, anything that allows you to avoid direct contact is certain to be a hit