When Ayumi Saito was 22 she broke up with her boyfriend, but the Tokyo resident found an easy way to fill the void left by her ex lover's departure. 

 

来自东京的亚由美西户22岁时和男朋友分手了，但她发现了一个简单方法，能填补前任离开后的空虚感。

 

She downloaded a romance gaming app onto her phone, and became one of the millions of women in Japan to swap¹ real life intimacy² for a fantasy. 

 

"I felt lonely," says Ito, now 31. "Japanese men are shy and not good at flattering women. But girls want to hear 'I love you'." 

 

The virtual boyfriends she found in games like "Metro³ PD: Close To You" -- which sees a female detective discover a life-changing romance while fighting crime -- did all the things her former partner hadn't. 

 

"When I was tired at the end of the day, before going to sleep, I was so relieved to hear his sweet and gentle words," she tells CNN.

 

Saito is by no means unusual. 

 

In 2014, the romance gaming industry in Japan was worth $130 million. 

 

In a society where 44.2% of women - almost half of Japan's millennial⁴ singles aged⁵ between 18 and 34 - are virgins⁶, this industry has seemingly tapped into a deep desire for simulated intimacy in Japan.

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