Japan: Government forced to play matchmaker

Speed ​​dating programs are being encouraged and supported by the Japanese government so that participants can find their other half.

The Japanese government is having a headache with the fact that young people in this country do not want to get married, and of course do not want to have children. No marriage, no children, means the population continues to decline. Boom! The countdown to Japan's population extinction is getting closer and closer.

So they have resorted to speed dating for young people. The service is free and supported by the government in the hope that couples will find each other more easily.

The Japanese government became an unwilling matchmaker.

"When you think about how to prevent the population from declining, there is no other way than to facilitate marriage," said Kazuhiko Suzuki, a representative of the Ishioka city government.

At a recent “marriage hunting” (konkatsu) event, about 80 single young people gathered in a room, trying to come up with as many questions as possible, as simple as “what kind of food do you like?” Then, from the large groups, they would go deeper into the relationships by breaking up into smaller groups.

If you are shy? No problem, there are experienced volunteers here to help you overcome your fear and find your other half.

Speed ​​dating services are booming in Japan.

Nozomi Abiko, a 22-year-old bank employee, came to the event after her boss rounded up all the single female employees and brought them to the dating event. “We can’t refuse, so we get fired?” she said.

With such programs, the Japanese government hopes that women like Abiko can pursue careers while also being wives and mothers. In the past five years, Japan’s population has decreased by 1 million people, down to 127 million (2015).

However, the dilemma arises for the Japanese government when encouraging women to work will make them forget about motherhood and marriage. Balancing work and family seems to be a difficult problem not only for women but also for the Japanese government.

Couples with three children in Japan will receive government support for tuition fees at all levels.

However, according to Japanese government officials, getting people to pair up is no easy task. Nearly every prefecture in Japan has been offering speed dating services since 2010, in the hope that it can be an effective way to bring couples together.

In Hiroshima City, these dating services have yielded positive results: 15 couples who started dating earlier this year have married and a baby is on the way. Private dating services are also being widely deployed in the hope of attracting more participants.

But in Ishioka Prefecture, speed dating has helped only two couples in the past three years. The government and local authorities are also considering other options, such as housing subsidies for couples and free education for families with at least three children.

According to Young Knowledge