The Tokyo government launched an artificial intelligence-powered dating app in June to help people find their future spouses as a way of addressing the city’s low marriage and birth rates.
In Japan, only 16.5% of 17- to 19-year-olds believe they will get married. And, shockingly, one-third of single men and women in their 20s to 40s say they have never been in a romantic relationship.
During a recent visit to Hungary, I was struck by the very different attitude of the more than a dozen people aged 16 to 29 that I met and who unanimously declared their desire to be married and have a family — something I rarely hear in Japan, my home country.