Japan dating app uses govt data to verify unmarried status

By AFP May 2, 2025 | 06:19 pm PT

A popular Japanese dating app has introduced a feature allowing it to verify users' marital status through government records, in a bid to prevent married cheaters pretending to be single.

Tapple, which counts more than 20 million users in the country facing a demographic crisis, introduced the feature on Wednesday.

A view of the Senso-ji Temple, the oldest Buddhist temple in in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan on March 11, 2025. Photo by AFP

A view of the Senso-ji Temple, the oldest Buddhist temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan on March 11, 2025. Photo by AFP

It said over half of users -- 69% of women and 54% of men -- had expressed concern over the honesty of other members about their marital status.

Its survey also showed that 97% of women and 83% of men would like to be able to know for sure whether their potential partner is already married.

So the tool is designed "to promote even safer and more secure dating and marriage hunting," the company said in a statement.

Users must give permission to the dating app to access an online government portal. Following verification married users will have their accounts suspended.

A Japanese government survey in July 2024 found that a quarter of married people aged 40 or under had met their future partner through online dating.

With the world's oldest population after Monaco, Japan is scrambling for ways to encourage a baby boom.

As part of these efforts, Tokyo's city government has developed its own dating app which requires users to submit documentation proving they are legally single and to sign a letter stating they are willing to get married.