The Japanese government is acting strangely in an attempt to increase the declining birth rate in the country. According to the Japan Times, it will release a “dating app” named “Tokyo Futari Story” this summer.
The Tokyo government app has been available for free testing since late 2023. Social media users were quick to respond critically to this dating app.
Japan Times quoted one user as saying, “Is this something the government should be doing with our tax?” Another user expressed interest, citing safety over fraud.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk stated, “I’m glad the government of Japan recognizes the importance of this matter. If radical action isn’t taken, Japan (and many other countries) will disappear.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration is aggressively pursuing measures to increase the birth rate in the face of escalating labor shortages. These measures include giving families financial assistance, facilitating child care access, granting parental leave, and more.
In Japan, birth rates dropped to an all-time low in 2023. Therefore, it isn’t uncommon for municipalities to hold matchmaking events, but it is quite rare for the government to create an app.
Ways to sign up for a dating app in Japan?
Users need to provide proof of their legal single status and sign a letter declaring their willingness to be married in order to use the dating app.
Other requirements include a tax certificate slip to prove their annual salary. A Tokyo government official in charge of the new app said, “We learned that 70% of people who want to get married aren’t actively joining events or apps to look for a partner,” reported Japan Times. He added, “We want to give them a gentle push to find one.”
Marriage in Japan
In Japan, there are two types of marriage structures: Shotgun weddings and traditional weddings.
In Shotgun weddings, the groom’s parents present the bride with a sum of money as a dowry, and the couple gets married without a formal ceremony.
Traditional weddings, also known as “Shinto weddings,” involve a formal ceremony at a Shinto shrine or temple, as well as a wedding banquet called a “reception.”
Plummeting Birth Rates
Data released by Japan’s health ministry showed that 7,99,728 babies were born in 2022, while around 1.58 million people died in the same period.
Though experts have attributed this in part to the decline in marriages during the pandemic years, the data is still worrying for Japan, which already has one of the oldest societies in the world with a median age of 48.4 years. The effects are already being felt in the nation’s labor market, healthcare and financial systems. It is a mark of how deeply the issue is embedded in Tokyo’s psyche that this year’s Oscar entry from Japan (titled Plan 75) is a dystopian movie about a government plan to euthanize the elderly to deal with a super-ageing society.
Japan and India both face significant population problems. Japan’s population is rapidly aging, with more people over the age of 65 than those under the age of 25.
Fertility rate around the world
In this situation, Japan is by no means alone. Since 2018, South Korea, a neighboring country, has had fewer births per woman than any other country in the world, with the lowest fertility rates in the world.
A World Bank report from 2022 states that as of 2020, Seoul’s fertility rate is 0.8. China’s fertility rates have also dropped significantly as a result of the contentious one-child policy, which was loosened in 2015.
For many years, Spain and Italy have had fertility rates in Europe that are far below the replacement level. The fertility rate in Italy, for example, dropped from 2.4 in the 1960s to 1.93 in 1977 and hasn’t increased above 2 since.
