Japan to Launch App for People to Get Married

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Japan is developing its own dating app, with its launch scheduled for this summer. Many localities are working to encourage "marriage activity" in a context of declining birth rates, but, according to the government, the development of an app is rare. To increase reliability, the government will even require proof of singleness and income.

According to the Government, in addition to a photo ID, registration requires a certificate of singleness or a copy of the family book. A pre-interview is also required, and fifteen pieces of personal information, such as height, academic achievements, job, income, etc., will have to be entered beforehand so that the other party can see them. In the meantime, the fee to be charged for this service is also being evaluated.

The reason for this stricter registration is to "avoid problems" such as crimes and false statements, according to the government. The presence of matchmaking apps as a place to meet people is on the rise, with the government stating: "If there are a lot of people who are interested but haven't been able to get married, we want to support them. We hope that people who had doubts about conventional apps will take the first step in their marriage activities with a sense of security towards the government."

It is also mandatory to submit proof of income, such as withholding tax certificates. According to a source familiar with the app industry, people with low or no income are typically less likely to pair up on apps in Japan. The government has budgeted approximately 200 million yen in FY2023 and 300 million yen in FY2024 for marriage promotion projects, including app development.

"Really? Will I finally be able to get my desired girl?"
"And how many companies will be involved in this application that will cause the reliability of the project to decline?"
"What's the point of creating new taxpayer-funded ones when we already have them? And I don't think the reason for not getting married is because people don't know people."
"It would be revolutionary for the city to automatically register when people are of marriageable age."
"You're going to be hacked and abused all over the place, and you're a victim just because you're a resident of Japan."
"If the metropolitan government is going to go to the trouble of doing this, the only point of record should be whether you have a certain level of income or not. They don't really want to solve the decline in the birth rate, do they?"
"The private sector is often a service of fake marriages or marriages registered by marriage scammers, so it's okay for the public sector to do it. But don't they have their own income and household registration information? We don't want to disclose personal information to millions of people, so we need a feature that allows us to limit the number of people we can disclose the information to and the number of cases."