One of the kinkiest countries in the world is having less and less sex. Read on to find out why.
It seems funny that a country so associated with unique pornographic themes, sexual fantasies, and AV stars would also be a country where sex is on a sharp decline. The decline is even more concerning because it is compounding to the already existing worry of Japan’s population decline.
The evidence of the decline in sex among the Japanese is based on national surveys conducted by the Japanese government, both by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, and the Japan Family Planning Association. The numbers are indeed concerning, with 45% of young women in the age range of 16-24 reporting they either hate or are not interested in having sex and over 25% of men in the same age group feeling the same. Furthermore, over 50% of both men and women ages 18-34 report not being in a romantic relationship. These statistics beg the question, what the hell is going on?!
While there are a complex interplay of factors contributing to the decline in sex among the Japanese, here are 5 primary reasons.
1) Attitudes Towards the Opposite Sex
This is good news for Asian Americans, a population that I feel has become very desirable in the past decade. At least in my eyes and many of my friends, including many non-Asian friends, the old stereotypes of Asians being weak, nerdy, poor at sports, and non-masculine have vanished because they simply aren’t true.
On the contrary, it is now Asian Americans that are associated with being gym rats, being athletic, having masculine interests like sports and street cars, having the best parties, and while still holding on to the desirable stereotype of being highly likely to be accomplished.
However, for whatever reason, a large number of men in Japan do not seem to be on this band wagon. In fact, there is a phrase in Japan, “soshoku danshi” that is growing in popularity when applied to Japanese men. The phrase translates to “herbivore men” and basically refers to men that are soft and non-masculine and OK with being so, even to the point of feeling that they don’t care about relationships with the opposite sex. While the men are not caring, the women in Japan also want to be part of this – for the women who do want a relationship, they want to be with a man, not a boy.
Written by Risa Clark