Japan's 'Don't swipe, write' campaign revives letter writing

Forming connections and building potential relationships with other people in the modern world have transgressed into a more high-tech manner with the development of dating apps and various social media platforms.

But back then, when these mediums were still non-existent, people had to write letters to each other to either get to know a person better, sustain their relationships and keep the love alive, and/or simply ask them out.

In the city of Miyazaki in Japan, a matchmaking initiative - that takes on the traditional letter writing and encourages people to put their thoughts into pen and paper instead of swiping right to a potential partner on a dating app - was launched.

What's the concept? And how does it work? First off, people who will join the campaign will be screened and paired based on their interests. Once a pairing happens, the two individuals involved can start writing letters to each other without having the need to divulge their names and addresses.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, one of the major publications in Japan, the pair can send and receive up to five letters to/from each other. If the pair decides to consensually meet, the consulting firm handling the “Don't swipe, write” initiative will provide them with the contact details of each.

Rie Miyata, head of the local consulting firm running the matchmaking campaign, shares with Agence France-Presse, “It takes longer [than online dating], and inspires you to imagine the person you're in communication with.”

“It's less about how good your penmanship is and more the fact that you write every single character sincerely and with care, thinking deeply about the person you're writing to. That's what makes letters so powerful,” she further explains.

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Two years after its launch, the campaign already has about 450 participants, 70 percent of them are in their 20s or 30s, and was able to produce 17 couples and 32 face-to-face interactions.

Aside from reviving the essence of traditional letter handwriting, the “Don't swipe, write” matchmaking initiative was also one of the attempts of the country to salvage its decreasing birthrate.

Statistics have shown that the number of births in Japan has fallen to 840,832 in 2020 and continually decreased in 2021 having 811,604 births only.

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With this initiative along with other artificial intelligence matchmaking schemes, the country hopes to increase the number of women who want to give birth in order to maintain the population at a moderate level.