In an attempt to boost Japan’s rapidly declining birth rate, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to inaugurate a dating application to assist citizens find their spouses easily.
According to a Tokyo City Hall official, the government is taking the bull by the horns to breach the gap between natality and death rates.
The official added that the matchmaking app which will be launched by early summer, is part of the broader initiative to encourage marriage and family formation among the city’s residents.
Users of the app would need to register their marital status, indicating that they are legally single and ready to marry.
Also also, they are required to provide personal detailed information like height, education, occupation, and even a tax certificate to verify their annual salary.
The government’s involvement is expected to instill a sense of security and encourage hesitant individuals to take the first step in finding a partner.
This initiative follows the Japanese birth rate falling critically for the eighth consecutive year and the population is expected to decline by 30% in 2070.
Tokyo, in particular, has the highest unmarried rates for 50-year-olds in the country, with 32% of men and 24% of women remaining single, Japan’s statistics bureau and Ministry of Health have reported.
Japanese authorities budgeted 300 million yen (nearly $2 million) to support young people in getting married and having children in 2024 through phone applications, this is about 100 million yen more than in 2023.
Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida has described the situation as the “gravest crisis” the country has faced.
With the launch of this government-backed dating app, Tokyo hopes to provide the necessary “gentle push” for the 70% of people who desire marriage but have been hesitant to actively seek a partner.
“We learned that 70 percent of people who want to get married aren’t actively joining events or apps to look for a partner,” AFP cited a Tokyo government official with knowledge of the app as saying, “We want to give them a gentle push to find one”
Similarly, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hatashi was cited by newsmen as saying, “The next six years or so until 2030, when the number of young people will rapidly decline, will be the last chance to reverse the trend.”
