Tokyo reverses baby bust with AI matchmaking and generous subsidies

Tokyo has recorded its first rise in births in a decade, giving Governor Yuriko Koike one of the clearest signs yet that her “children first” policies may be gaining traction.

The capital registered 85,064 Japanese births in 2025, an increase of 857, or 1.02%, from the previous year. The increase was modest, but it came alongside a second consecutive annual rise in marriages. A total of 79,481 couples registered their unions in Tokyo, 3,040 more than a year earlier.

Because few children in Japan are born outside marriage, the rise in marriages is seen in the article as an important indicator for future births. Preliminary Health Ministry data also showed that Tokyo recorded 2,278 more births in the first half of 2026 than in the same period of 2025.

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I was in national politics before and got frustrated because nothing was being done. That’s why I ran to serve as the governor of Tokyo.

The increase in Tokyo helped lift Japan’s national figures. The country recorded 342,068 births from January through June 2026, an increase of 2,788 from a year earlier and the first rise in a first-half total in 11 years.

Koike, who has led Tokyo for a decade, has used the capital as a testing ground for childcare subsidies and maternal support. She said she entered local politics after becoming frustrated with the lack of action in national politics: “I was in national politics before and got frustrated because nothing was being done. That’s why I ran to serve as the governor of Tokyo.”

She said Tokyo had increasingly acted as a force pushing national policy forward. “I see Tokyo’s role as the driving force leading these initiatives,” she said. Tokyo remains a rare Japanese prefecture whose population is growing even as the national population shrinks, with its growth long driven mainly by young Japanese moving to the capital.

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I see Tokyo’s role as the driving force leading these initiatives.