Japanese app for people with disabilities hits 200,000 downloads

Amid the sea of dating apps and platforms that already exist for people looking to hook up, do we need another? It seems we do.

Irodori is a Japanese dating app designed specifically for people with disabilities, including developmental disorders or depression. Since its launch three years ago, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun, the service has facilitated about 35,000 matches.

It was developed by Izumi Yuki, a 34-year-old woman with ADHD. She was inspired to launch Irodori as someone who has also struggled with her own neurodivergent traits and romantic relationships.

Rather than disclosing these traits to others, Yuki chose to put on a facade of being “normal” until meeting someone in college who was open about their weakness convinced her to reveal her own issues.

“Showing your weaknesses doesn’t make people leave,” she realized.

After graduation, he began working at a pharmaceutical company but struggled to understand her supervisor’s instructions. “I guess I’m just unfit for society, aren’t I?” she asked her supervisor, who apparently did not deny it.

Medication is effective, a psychiatrist told her, but connecting with others through shared struggles and experiences can be even more powerful.

With the doctor’s help, she spoke with patients and discovered that many faced challenges regarding making human connections.

Yuki thought that if there were a place where people could openly share their vulnerabilities without fear, life might become a little easier. She then conceived the idea of ​​a dating app for people with disabilities.

The service launched in 2023. Primarily intended for individuals with disabilities, the app has achieved approximately 200,000 downloads. (We suspect the guys who download Irodori are hoping to meet someone like deaf politician/hostess Rie Saito.) Reportedly, at least four couples have gotten married. It has attracted widespread media coverage.

Profiles candidly detail personal medical histories and current situations. Users have shared positive feedback about not having to hide their disabilities and about reaching others who can understand them better.

“For those of us living with these conditions, myself included, it is easier to talk to and be accepted by someone who has had similar experiences.”

Yuki used to hide her ADHD traits from her past partners in order to appear more fun and attractive, but things are different with the man she met last year. Their relationship began after she had already revealed everything about herself, partly because she hadn’t initially viewed him as a romantic prospect.

“I never imagined I could feel this much at ease with someone.”