Bloomberg has called it “actually a good idea” and VICE has provided the click-bait fuel by calling it a “sex app”.

Let’s take a closer look.

“Tokyo Futari Story,” the city hall’s new initiative is just that: An effort to create couples, “futari,” in a country where it is increasingly common to be “hitori,” or alone.

For all the reasons the world understands about Japan’s aging and declining population, this is undoubtedly a good thing.

Marriage is on the decline in Japan, as the country’s birth rate fell to an all-time low, according to recent health ministry data. Last year there were 474,717 marriages, down from 504,930 in 2022 while births totaled 727,277, down from 770,759.

In a press briefing earlier this year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that the next few years “will be the last chance to reverse the trend.”

The question is, is government intervention in this sort of thing warranted?

First, let’s consider the existing alternatives — well and often privately funded companies offer slick interfaces and addictive swiping-based features to harvest and build algorithms on top of personal user data on things as vanilla  as their favorite music and hobbies , to more sensitive sexual preferences and desires. The positive outcomes are varied, catfishing is an ever-present danger, but they are successful enough to keep lookers and seekers engaged and subscribing to premium paid features on a whim.

Now, let’s examine local government’s plan — there has been a $1.28MM investment in an actual app, accessible through phone or web, according to city officials, and presumably subsidized by tax dollars. With many details still looming, City Hall declined to comment on Japanese media reports that said the app will require a confirmation of identity, such as a driver’s license, your tax records to prove income and a signed form that says you are ready to get married. Verifiable? Yes. Strange? Maybe. Necessary? Very much so.

“If there are many individuals interested in marriage but unable to find a partner, we want to provide support,” a Tokyo government official told The Asahi Shimbun. “We hope that this app, with its association with the government, will provide a sense of security and encourage those who have been hesitant to use traditional apps to take the first step in their search for a partner.”

As much as commercial dating apps claim they are “designed to be deleted”, an app created and controlled by the government somehow seems more secure. The jury is out if Tokyo’s singles will be comfortable sharing such information with a governing body vs. dating apps and social networks where providing personal, sometimes anonymous data has been the norm for nearly two decades.

A small change in this behavior could result drastic changes for a country in dire need of a coupling solution.