Japan’s fertility rate (the number of births per woman in her lifetime) fell from 1.26 to 1.20, well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.
 "Japan's birth numbers hit record low: Can dating apps change the trend?")
Nandini Singh New Delhi
CNN reported that Japan’s birth rate has fallen to another record low as the government stepped up efforts to promote marriage and family formation and even launched its own dating app.
New data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare shows that Japan, a country of 123.9 million, had just 727,277 births last year, and the fertility rate — the total number of children a woman will have in her lifetime — fell from 1.26 to 1.20.
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To maintain a stable population, a birth rate of 2.1 is necessary. Above this value, population growth is characterized by a significant proportion of children and adolescents, as seen in India and many African countries.
But Japan’s birth rate has been below 2.1 for half a century, falling below that level since the 1973 global oil crisis and has not recovered, experts say. The downward trend in birth rates has accelerated in recent years, with deaths exceeding births each year, leading to a shrinking population with far-reaching implications for Japan’s workforce, economy, welfare system and social structure.
In 2023, the country is expected to experience 1.57 million deaths, more than double the number of births, and 30,000 fewer marriages were recorded last year while divorces increased.
Experts predict that this decline will continue for decades to come, in part because of the country’s demographics: Even as birth rates soar, the population will continue to fall until the ratio of young people to old people is in balance.
To mitigate the impact, the government has launched new agencies to focus on the issue and introduced initiatives such as expanding childcare facilities, offering housing subsidies to parents, and even paying couples in some towns rewards for having children.
In Tokyo, the local government is trying a new approach: a government-run dating app, currently in early testing and set to launch fully later this year, will ask users to take a “values test,” allowing them to specify the traits they’re looking for in a partner.
The app’s website encourages users to “use this as the first step in starting your search for a partner,” and the AI matching system is provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The aim is to introduce users to potential partners who are compatible with them based on their values.
The dating app’s website also highlights other government measures to help couples, such as providing information on work-life balance, childcare, housing support, men’s participation in housework and childcare, and career counselling.
“While marriage is a decision that is based on one’s own values, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is working to foster momentum for marriage so that people who think, ‘I would like to get married someday,’ can take the first step,” the website states.
To use the app, users must be single, over 18, “looking to get married,” and living or working in Tokyo.
The Japanese government also hopes that these initiatives will encourage people who wish to marry to think about what becoming a couple means to them, and take the first step toward this major life decision.
“We ask each of you who wish to get married to consider what being a ‘couple’ means to you,” the government’s dating website said.
