News Tokyo Metropolitan Gov to release dating app ❤️

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is launching its dating app to encourage marriage and combat the declining birthrate. Unlike other matchmaking services, this fee-based app will thoroughly vet signups. Developed by a private contractor, the app is set to launch this summer. Unusually, a local government is involved in creating such an app. The Tokyo government has allocated funds for this project in its budget for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The app's registration process will be strict, requiring photo ID, income certification, and proof of single status through official documents. Users must also provide 15 personal details, including height, education, and occupation, which will be shared with potential matches.

According to a survey by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. last fall, dating apps and workplace encounters were the most common way for couples to meet. The apps account for 25 per cent of couples who married within a year. Tokyo's unmarried rates for 50-year-old people are the highest in the country, at 32 per cent for men and 24 per cent for women. However, 67.4 per cent of Tokyo residents who want to get married are not actively looking for a partner, according to a 2021 survey by the metropolitan government. About 90,000 babies were born in Tokyo in 2022, a 15.2-per cent drop from a decade earlier. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the low marriage rate is a major factor contributing to the decline in births.

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And unsurprisingly:

However, the requirement may work against some male users. "Generally speaking, men with low incomes are less likely to find a partner on dating apps," said Saki Ito, who runs dating app review website Match Up. Female users of dating apps tend to seek men with higher incomes, Ito added.

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Other local governments are also turning to private-sector tie-ups. Miyazaki inked a partnership in September with Eureka -- the company behind the popular Pairs dating app -- under which the city will hold seminars on how to use Pairs and distribute coupons for its paid service. Eureka has similar arrangements elsewhere as well. Meanwhile, Kyoto City is looking to the metaverse, becoming a popular way for singles to seek partners without meeting face-to-face. The city held its first virtual reality matchmaking event in November -- part of its program to support people moving there -- on the Memoria VR dating service from Tokyo-based startup Flamers—a total of 25 men and ten women applied to participate, with about half living outside Kyoto.

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