the city of Tokyo funds a dating app to boost the birth rate

Against the decline in births, which is reaching critical levels, the city of Tokyo is launching its own dating application. She wants to encourage marriages and demographic rebound.

No question of going there for simple flirtations or one-night stands – which the town hall modestly describes as “recreational use“. This is serious, it’s about finding someone to whom we will put the ring on our finger to have children. In Japan, only less than 3% of babies are born outside of marriage (OECD report published in early 2024).

This application is reserved to people aged 18 and over, living, working or studying in Tokyo. The registration procedure is worthy of a job interview: you must provide a copy of the family register or any document certifying that you are not already hired, answer 15 questions, and attach your tax notice, certify your resources. An interview is also planned with a person from the private company which manages the application, and you are asked to sign a document attesting to the sincerity of your approach. SAccording to the Mitsubishi UFJ Research survey, carried out in 2021, 60% of dating app users in Japan had lied at least once in their profile.

The testing phase is in progress, since last December, and uses AI to match users. If the results are conclusive, the application will be available this summer for all Tokyoites. Surprisingly,according to the project manager, 70% of Japanese people who want to get married are not on applications to find a partner.

Some may remember the “demographic rearmament” by Emmanuel Macron in January 2024, when the president asked the French to have babies. It’s the same in Japan, except that in the land of Tech, the public authorities are creating an app. But if they mix, it is because the Japanese – like the Koreans for that matter – are no longer having enough children and the situation is becoming critical.

Some 758,600 births only in 2023, for twice as many deaths. From year to year, the birth rate collapses inexorably, schools close, there is a shortage of workers, and the country ages. Even some baby diaper manufacturers are withdrawing from the sector to make sanitary protection for adults instead.

The authorities no longer know what to invent. Already last year the government announced “last chance measures”, by wanting to double the early childhood budget. The funding did not follow.

Cities, at their level, already regularly organize events for marriage candidates. VSThis time, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is spending 1.77 million euros on this app and other marriage promotion projects. But in the capital, the problem is that many couples simply do not have enough money for proper accommodation with children. And it’s not an application that will change anything.