Tokyo government dating app achieves 265 marriages

TOKYO Enmusubi went live in September 2024, after a survey found that around 70% of people interested in marriage were not actively engaging in matchmaking.

To overcome this reluctance and ensure that only people interested in tying the knot joined, those signing up had to prove that they were legally single and pass an online interview, among other conditions.

As at June 30, the app had 16,000 registered members – whittled down from around 36,000 applicants – and 760 couples in "serious relationships", according to government data released in July.

A total of 265 couples had married.

People walk in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on Jun 16, 2026. Photo by Reuters

The government quoted one woman with the pseudonym "Turtle" as saying she tried the app "as a last chance" as she approached her 40th birthday.

"After going on several blind dates, I met my current husband at the end of August, and we started a serious relationship in mid-September," she said.

"I accepted his proposal at the end of December."

The number of babies born in Japan to Japanese nationals hit a new record low of 671,236 in 2025, in the 10th consecutive annual decline, government data showed in June.

Deaths were more than double that at 1.6 million, while the fertility rate edged down 0.01 percentage points to 1.14, although marriages inched higher, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry numbers showed.