Paper short abstract:

Being/ Becoming 'single' is becoming common in the world cities? I will deal with the Kenya Luo village, which is strongly defined by traditional customs, and Nairobi, which is representative city in East Africa. At the end I try to compare the condition of 'single' among African and Asian cities.

Paper long abstract:

Urban world, represented by the Kenyan capital of Nairobi is a place of conflation of various ethnic groups. The foundation is made up of ethnic cultural differences.

There are many people who come to Nairobi to earn money from the village temporarily. In addition, the so-called elite - there are people after graduating from college, get a steady job are living in government and business. They have adapted to the system of the modern city beyond each ethnic customary law.

In order to find the partner of the same level, elite people make use of the social network and dating groups. And also they often contribute to the newspaper and magazine column, with the goal of matching men and women. In particular, most of elite working women are single and their ordinary life is supported by maids who are single from the village. I would like to focus on the life of 'single' people who live between the village and city.

In recent Japan, activities to find a marriage partner, is called "Konkatsu". It became synonymous with urban culture. In conclusion of this presentation, I would like to discuss and compare the situation of single men and women of the city between in Japan and Kenya.