When they can’t have it all, where do their priorities lie?

Speaking in abstract, idealized terms, most Japanese women would like a romantic partner who’s both handsome and wealthy. However, since we’re unlikely to find someone with all of our desired traits in one convenient package, dating often becomes an exercise in prioritizing those preferences, and multiple surveys have been done asking single women whether a man’s physical or financial attractiveness weighs more heavily in their decision to date him or not.

A new survey, though, carried out by Japanese Internet portal My Navi no Madoguchi, questioned female Japanese university students about their preference between two other oft-desired traits in a guy: height and handsomeness. The researchers asked 286 females whether they’d rather date a short “ikemen” (a Japanese slang term referring to a handsome, and usually physically fit, man), or a tall guy with otherwise average looks.

When the votes were tallied, the tall men occupied the higher position, with 75.2 percent of the women saying they’d pick the tall, non-ikemen option. “An average-looking guy is good enough for me,” said one respondent, while another added that she actually feels intimidated by handsome men.

▼ Nothing to be intimidated by here.

On the other end of the spectrum were the 24.8 percent of women who’d select the shorter, otherwise more handsome guy. However, not all of them made that choice because of a craving for eye candy. “I’m short myself,” explained one, “and so if I’m walking next to a tall guy, it’s hard to carry on a conversation,” due to the distance between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ears.

That’s not to say everyone who picked the shorter man was so high-minded, though. “There’s nothing better than a hot guy,” declared a particularly matter-of-fact and unabashed respondent. Still, with over 70 percent of the women casting their vote for tall men, if you’re a guy in the Japanese dating pool, it’s probably best to make sure you maintain good posture the next time you’re at a gokon-style singles’ party.

Source: Nico Nico News via Jin

Top image: Pakutaso

Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)

Casey isn’t particularly tall, but you can follow him on Twitter anyway.