Pairs Joins Politicians in Discussing Japan’s Declining Birth Rates

Dating app Pairs is leading the charge to address Japan’s declining birth rates. Junya Ishibashi, CEO of Pairs, spoke at the recent symposium “Unmarried, Declining Birthrate and Aging, and Future Japan” alongside national politicians. 

The event addressed the issue of declining birth rates, with the number of unmarried individuals being a key causal factor in the challenge facing Japanese society. This was highlighted by Masanobu Ogura, who is Japan’s Minister in charge of Measures for Loneliness and Isolation and Minister of State for Measures for Declining Birthrate.

Minister Ogura stated that 80% of unmarried people want to find a life-partner, but are unable to find someone suitable and “cannot get along well with the opposite sex”. He emphasised the need for opportunities and support for dating.

Ishibashi addressed the topic, highlighting issues such as not knowing how to behave, the diversification of values, and risk-averse thinking. He stated that there is a need to increase the “active population” who are engaged in love and marriage.

Joining them was an expert in demographics, who shared that understanding different generations will help address the issue of unmarried peoples. He said that correcting gender disparities and unconscious biases will help to spark change among younger unmarried generations.

Pairs shared that it will “continue to contribute to society by presenting solutions from the perspective of creating ‘encounters’ for the issues of the declining birthrate and unmarried population in Japan”.