Japan Government Dating App

[Bran Bast]

Throughoutthe land, there are public and company-sponsored singles parties and "life design seminars" meant to prod young adults onto a concrete timeline for marriage and family. The city of Tokyo even teaches basic dating skills, such as the art of conversation (Hint: Don't just talk about yourself). Photographers provide free flattering portraits; stylists and makeup artists are being deployed to gussy up the dowdy.

Last month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared that the government would take "unprecedented" measures to tackle Japan's sagging fertility rate. In a parliamentary address, he warned the country teeters on the brink of dysfunction, sliding toward insolvent pension and health care systems, soaring national debt, and economic decline.

A periodic survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research found close to a fifth of men and about 15% of women expressing disinterest in marriage, the highest levels since 1982. Almost a third of men and a fifth of women in their fifties in Japan have never been married.

"They'll basically add manpower to existing local programs and come up with new ideas" for boosting the marriage rate, said Yuki Nomura, a Cabinet Agency spokesman. The central government will cover 75% of the costs for the concierges, who are being recruited now, among public and private sector individuals with matchmaking expertise.

"Post-industrial countries (like Sweden) that made it possible to balance work and family have not suffered large declines in birthrates," Harvard sociologist Mary Brinton noted in a recent presentation dissecting Japan's demographic missteps.

Some local governments seem to be at least paying lip service to this inequality. The governors of Saga, Miyazaki and Kagoshima have donned yellow aprons over their suits and ties to be filmed trying their hands at vacuuming, ironing and scrubbing. They marveled at the sheer amount of drudgery.

"It's not a problem of matchmaking, it's an issue of more men with unstable incomes," the professor told CBS News. "Even among regular workers, relative incomes are falling, so it's better (for singles) to keep living with their parents" than get married.

Yamada lambasted the government for programs that he says primarily benefit Japan's well-educated elite. In 2021, a fifth of men and over half of women were in part-time, freelance or other non-regular jobs.

In a bid to combat the ongoing population decline, the Japanese government is investing taxpayer money in a dating app called Tapple. Facing a crisis due to an aging population, the city of Tokyo grapples with the highest percentage of never-married individuals at age 50 nationwide, with figures standing at 32.15 percent for men and 23.79 percent for women.

Tapple aims to play cupid, matching people based on mutual hobbies and interests. However, critics question the effectiveness of a taxpayer-funded dating app, urging the government to address fundamental issues causing the decline in marriages and childbirth, such as financial constraints.

To target the younger generation, the government is allocating taxpayer money to introduce matchmaking apps and virtual dating experiences. Tapple, in particular, matches people based on mutual hobbies and interests, encouraging connections beyond superficial criteria.

Financial constraints emerge as a significant factor, with many Japanese citizens expressing a lack of resources for marriage and raising children. A Tokyo government official noted that seven percent of those aspiring to marry face obstacles due to difficulties in meeting potential partners and discomfort with private matchmaking services.

As Japan grapples with the title of the third loneliest nation globally, the question remains: Will a dating app be the answer to the deeply rooted societal challenges contributing to the decline in marriages and childbirth?

The app is aimed at those 18 and up who are living, working, or studying in Tokyo. It is also said to utilize AI to find suitable pairings of users based on their personal info and a questionnaire, much like other dating apps.

What sets this app apart is the government-backed vetting process which requires users to prove their marital status and income, as well as take part in an online interview to confirm their identity. While people might be reluctant to provide personal info such as proof of income to a private company, submitting such things to the government is nothing new.

The basic system for this app has been in place since last December in a limited trial using a browser version and government employees and people who took part in government matchmaking events. Their feedback will be used to make improvements to the service moving forwards. It also appears that the browser version is open for anyone on the Tokyo Futari Story website to register while the app is still awaiting release.

And speaking of feedback, online reaction to the news has been lukewarm, with many pointing out that the government is once again trying to deal with the declining birthrate without tackling the obvious underlying causes such as economic stability and less demanding work schedules.

I've always found the pursuit of a mate to be a little weird. It might happen by accident, kdrama style, which is fine, but I wouldn't want to spend time and money pursuing it. The whole process appears shot through with expense, emotional stress, a loss of time to do stuff and considerable compromises in one's day to day life. Fur babies seem more sensible. But I am looking forward to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's release of their first MMORPG, 'Yuriko Koike and the Hanko of Destiny'.

More of people's taxes destined to go straight down the drain. This app will not even halt the decline in the marriage /birthrate, let alone lead to a increase in bambinos running around. But you can guarantee that billions (if not trillions) of yen will disappear into the abyss, before it is quietly discontinued within a few years.

I think it is always the same. The first thing is how to avoid punishment or blame. There are many established ways to do that. But beyond that it is how to extend their domain and get a budget for doing so. In Japan, once the budget is established it is never relinquished and mostly never rescinded. The money must be spent, or secretly squirrelled away in a secret fund, usually by the end of the year (coming soon) so that it is rolled over into the next year. IT budget for measures to stop population decline is a plausible budget-getter, along with anything for which 'safety measures' can be appended. There is little citizen oversight of all this and very few performance criteria.

Another fact that makes me wonder if its usual Japanese desire to come across as someone more wealthy or attractive that make people see the official app as a bad idea. I mean if a gardener or a librarian with low income put their unphotoshoped pictures on this app and be okay with it how high their chances are?

More than half of dating-app users said they had experienced someone misrepresenting their marital status or other parts of their profile, according to a 2021 study by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., the outlet reported. In the U.S., Pew Research Center found that 63% of men under 50 said they had encountered a scammer on a dating app, while 44% of women across age groups said the same.

To avoid those pitfalls, the new government-sponsored app will force users to comply with thorough, even arguably onerous requirements, before they sign up. To start swiping right, users will have to verify their income, submit a government document to prove they are single, and sit for an interview with the company running the app. All of the information will be available to potential matches. The new platform is also not for casual daters; users will have to sign a statement declaring that they are looking for a partner to marry.

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Is it just me, or does this sound like a series of additional hurdles for these poor souls to have to go through? The commenters in the article were absolutely correct- surely there are better measures to help this kind of thing?

Typical Japanese way to overcomplicate things and then wonder why it hasn't succeeded. Why would people willingly give up so much personal info and be pressured to get married? So what's next, you get kicked out of the app if you've met 3 people and still haven't picked a mating partner?

Hahaha... I laughed a lot when I read this. Knowing it'll be a government app it won't work, for starters. Then they'll ask you to hook it up to your MyNumber card if they ever get it off the ground.... I mean, if you're able to input your information, switching between zenkakumoji and hankaku, plus entering a bunch of PINs sent to addresses that need verifying by checking the app, which you can't submit to without the PIN. And we all know how great the government is with private information, too. The only reasons I didn't laugh harder at this was, a) they are using our taxes for this, b) they are doing this instead of taking actual measures to increase the desire to find a partner and possibly create a family. Reinstitute tax breaks for families? Nah... let's make a government dating app!

Users will be required to submit paperwork that they are single and looking to get married... if you're not laughing then you should join these politicians. Typical Japanese political disassociation with reality. I'd run for PM in Japan but I'm not Japanese. Japanese women just don't want the BS role that many men expect them to act out now a days. With all the social media and advanced communications women are not communicating. I think Japan may need to close its borders again for 200 years. Go back to a Feudal system and live off of what can be produced domestically. Women were pretty tough back in the day... as much as you might think men ruled them, I believe women had power too... but behind the scenes. That is how women rule... they work together with unwritten rules that rule men. So pick your century.... this one is all screwed up.

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