So I was reading Metropolis, the english magazine about tokyo. On their front page they have interesting tidbits of information.

One of them was:

"To address the problem of the country’s low birthrate, the government decided to offer support to matchmaking agencies to get more people to marry. (At the moment there are more pets in Japan than children under 15.)"

Yes, yes. Let's use expensive matchmaking companies to address our birthrate. Let's not even think about forcing companies to let husbands ATTEND THE BIRTH OF THEIR CHILDREN or making flextime more viable or supporting women's reentrance into the workplace after childbirth.

Because of course, those aren't among the reasons for the low childbirth, the real reason is that people just can't find their lifemate.

Got it.

Japan is in a financial mess. Instead of creating long term viable solutions including making working more family friendly or allowing for easy immigration policies to step up the workforce, Japan is bankrolling Yentas. And this is in the face of growing desires in the population for love matches a la Western style.

(matchmaker matchmaker make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch)