The city of Tokyo plans to launch a dating app in the coming months, hoping it will help address the declining population in Japan.
The application is one of several efforts by the city of Tokyo that “leverages the specialized knowledge and know-how of private business operators” to provide “an AI matching system that introduces people with a high probability of establishing a relationship based on values and more.” Here is the original publication.
The efforts are aimed at helping to drive down the country’s population and were announced a day before Ministry of Health data revealed that Japan’s birth rate had reached a new historic low of 1.2 children per woman in 2023.
An app for marriages, not a dating app
Eager to solve some inherent problems of those other dating apps, the paid platform will include a background check of individuals to ensure that members are truly single and willing to get married.
To do this, users must submit documentation and undergo interviews with a private company working with the application.
The platform will even ask users for tax information to prove their income. Height, academic background, and occupation will also be revealed to potential partners.
“There is something about using a service where you know, more or less, that the person you could potentially have a date with is exactly what the app says they are, including occupation and salary, that seems to have more success,” commented a Reddit user who claimed to know people who have found life partners through similar government programs.
“Of course, it also means that the chances of getting that first opportunity are much lower if you have a particularly undesirable job or background, because you will be quickly filtered out by the opposite sex,” added the Redditor.
The application is part of a marriage promotion plan for which the Tokyo government allocated 200 million yen ($1.3 million) from the fiscal year 2023 budget and 300 million yen ($1.93 million) from the fiscal year 2024 budget.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicted last year that Japan’s population will decrease by 30% to 87 million by 2070, when 40% of its population will be over 65 years old.
The country is already feeling the effects of population decline and aging. That is why the government has imposed restrictions on overtime, as those who can work tend to do so excessively, which does not allow them to seek a partner or have children.
