Tokyo hopes AI app will spur marriages

Events designed to help reverse decline in births

TOKYO – On an overcast day in Tokyo last week, three dozen men and women strolled through a botanical garden in groups of four, making awkward conversation as they searched for clues to a mystery-solving game – and a potential partner for life.

They are participants in one of the many matchmaking events the government of Japan’s capital has been hosting for years in an attempt, so far unsuccessful, to reverse declines in marriages and births.

Having organized parties and offered dating and fashion advice, the metropolis of 14 million now hopes for a broader reach and better results by releasing an AI-powered dating app as early as this spring.

The app will ask matrimonial hopefuls more than 100 questions, such as “What kind of person can you not stand?” and “Are you comfortable sharing your feelings?” It will suggest matches using big data gleaned from responses from 150,000 couples.

Tokyo plans to vet users through online interviews and require a certificate proving their single status in a process that Kaori Shiratori, a 56-year-old civil servant who won the lottery to the event at the botanical garden, found reassuring.

“I’d like to try the new app,” she said, before leaving the Vernal Equinox Day function without a match. “I tried to work up the courage to talk to this one man I thought was attractive, but everyone rushed to him so I had no chance.”

A 32-year-old who asked to be identified only by his last name, Fujita, said he used to hesitate to look for a partner because he was a part-time worker. After securing a stable job at a nursing home, he is now keen to find someone to spend time with, mountain climbing and visiting temples.

“I can trust the app if it’s overseen by Tokyo because I think they would more carefully handle personal information,” he said.

With a population set to start shrinking from 2030, Tokyo will nearly double to 335 million yen ($2.2 million) its budget for marriage-support services in the fiscal year starting next month.