Japan has a worrying number of virgins, government finds
 

No wonder the birthrates in Japan are so low...

We often read/hear about more and more people feeling lonely these days, but Japan seems to have a quite extreme case of single people.

Thoughts?

Are all Japanese people today like SAL 9000, who married a video game character?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapc...ing/index.html

Its because they all have anime waifu's. And i'm not joking.

Well, this certainly explains all the weird hentai and porn they make to some degree. It also dispells the myth that Japanese are huge perverts.

...we kinda are. Can't argue with that.

****in statists. Mind your own business, Big Brother.

True, but Japan has a birthrate problem and if people remain virgins there that problem ain't gonna get fixed, man. It's not like they're gonna force people to have sex :lol:

The drome isn't far behind.

Dunno man, this community seems quite normal compared to most internet ones out there. At least, as far as the most active users go, I seriously doubt most or even 50% of them are virgins.

That all depends on how you define pervert.

Lot's of people think Anime, hentai and Japanese porn in general are accurate representations of the country. The chikan phenomenon is also infamous, which ends up painting Japanese men in a bad light. Obviously most Japanese men aren't like that, but you know how stereotypes work.

Anyway, nothing wrong with being a virgin. We've all(well, not all of us) been virgins at some point or another and that didn't kill us. If anything, this might be an underlying cause of something bigger. Like malfunctioning society or a society full of people with not so great social skills, but I guess that depends on the individual. Each case is a case, as they say.

There's a big combination of issues. Firstly the influx of porn everyone has already mentioned. Then that Japan is ironically conservative. And then that it's already expensive enough for a single person to live - hence giving benefits to people getting married.

On the other hand, Japan has some of the proportional lowest infant mortality rates in the world, so that's something else to look at.

Ah, I thought you were implying that because people were reporting little to no partnered sexual activity, that they couldn't possibly be perverts.

Which is just something I don't believe is the case.

I'm curious to know what the government study considered "sex" to calculate what constitutes virginity.

Also the overall culture's view of sex before marriage. If it's strongly culturally enforced that people don't hook up before wedding up, then that could also account for the declining birth rate.

Considering Japan is not a Christian or Muslim nation doubt they have an issue with that. In fact, Japan is hard to defend religiously speaking. In Japan both Shintoism and Buddhism co-exist peacefully and many people perform rituals from both religions throughout their lives.

I remember reading a survey by Durex, the condom company, about how often people had sex in several countries and how many partners men and women in each country reported to have... Japan was pretty much dead last. I cant' remember the exact numbers but Japanese men and women reported having the lowest amount of sex partners throughout their whole lives and apparently Japanese couples had sex less than 100 times per year. It's said that sex disappears quickly after two Japanese people get married and have kids, but I'm not sure if that's a general "rule" or not.

It's all that 2d over there. They've realized that 3d women just can't compare.

I don't think Abrahamic Religious sects have a patent on paternity certainty, or it's cultural enforcement.

Regardless, I've never heard about pre-marital sex being a taboo in Japan. And if it ever was it must have been some decades ago already

Considering Japan also has a healthy business of "love therapy" and romantic themed hotels(many of which charge by the hour) I'm fairly certain that the tabboo doesn't really exist there as we know it. Japan has a history as a highly sexualzed country- they're just very quiet about it. It isn't stigmatized- but it isn't talked about either.

Sex is stupid anyway.

Effin' test tube that s**t if you want to bring up the population.

"Like an anime fan on prom night?"

My opinion on this, is that people here don't want to deal with having relationships or the hassles that may come with it. Some people have had a relationship, but had a bad break up, and just don't want to bother trying again.

There are also guys who don't want to make an effort to be in a relationship.

Bottom line, too much drama. Another issue here, that we in the US, for instance, already have dealt with (and still dealing with) is the job thing. You know how you can get a job and stay with that company for life, right? Well, the current generation is having that problem now. Some guys feel intimidated because of this, seemingly. No good job, no woman will want them.

As for women...more are becoming career focused. There's still the issue of pregnancy harassment here in the workplace (being shamed for getting pregnant and not putting your work first....and yes, there are cases of this and one woman in particular took her company to court for causing her to miscarry). Generally, women who do marry and eventually become pregnant, quit their jobs since juggling work and kids is a bit difficult, especially when you can't get any adequate childcare due to kindergarten and nursery school waiting lists. Women who want to focus on careers, put relationships and family on the back burner and that's happening more and more lately. The majority of part time and temp jobs are held by women here, sadly.

So yeah, I think it's a combination of things causing people to abstain...not the manga and anime stuff, although there are some with unrealistic expectations and want their girlfriends or wives to be like AKB members or whatever that nonsense is. Yes, I hate the AKB idol stuff here.

Edit: Just remembered something from about a year ago...



This exhibits some of the problems women have in Japan and, as mentioned, why some are veering away from relationships and stuff.

I swear one way or another this thread is gonna get locked and disintegrated.

It's probably difficult for the couples to have sex in general when it's customary for the kids to share the room with their parents. Parents sleep with their kids in the room when very young. The walls are also thin, hence why they have "Love Hotels" in this country. I can't help but wonder how people manage to have more than one kid. lol

Interestingly, that's possibly part of why their infant death rate is so low.

And besides, people have been figuring out how to have sex while co-sleeping for centuries. We've just come out of line with it in the past century or so. You don't need a bed to have sex, and they probably take care of it by dropping the kid with a friend or grandparent. My brothers and I slept with my parents as babies. There's a way.

I was thinking along the lines of privacy. They don't even have locks on the doors inside of a house, outside of probably the toilet or washroom. Bedroom doors don't generally have them.

Well, that's why you let someone else watch over the kid for an hour or so. Grandparents, friend, neighbor. Or the TV.

Yeah...everyone having their own sleeping space is something that's relatively new, all things considered. People have been having sex with family in the room for as long as there's been humans.

Babysitters aren't much of a thing either here and, like I said, walls are thin. That's why Love Hotels are so prosperous. You know, years ago, Nintendo even tried to have a chain of Love Hotels, iirc. Didn't work out for the company. lol

I dont' think their infant death rate is related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...mortality_rate

Northern European countries have even lower ones. And since they have low population, it'd be easier for their percentages to go up. So clearly very few babies and litte kids die in Scandinavia.

It's most likely related to good medical technology.

I'd never leave a kid of mine with a babysitter.

In Finland, babies sleep in cardboard boxes that were "starter packs" from hosptials - and near their parents. Ever since that was implemented in the 1930's, their infant mortality rates plummeted and are now extremely low.
Though, medical care would contribute quite a lot.

There's a lot of contributing factors, but at the very least, staying in the same room as the parents is one of them.

But that's not what we're talking about here.

Yeah it's basically rapid society changes. As far as I know, South Korea's birthrate went down a lot in the past decade as well.

Rapid industrialisation usually has a big correlation with people marrying and having kids later.

People with overtly high standards are a thing in every country, so I doubt Japan is unique in that regard.

Hey, I just thought of something else that may (or may not) be a reason why folks aren't having kids (aside from women wanting to hold out on starting families or lack of money to raise kids)...no painkillers during childbirth. lol I forgot that a lot of hospitals don't offer epidurals. Only some hospitals/birthing areas use it. You must research which ones actually do it.

I do have an old coworker who told me that she made sure she wouldn't get pregnant again so she wouldn't have to go through that excruciating pain again. She said, "I wish we used painkillers, like you do in the US."

Trouble is they've started to go a little out of control with it here, passing them out like candy to the point that it's part of the reason why many unnecessary c-sections happen - and also probably connecting back to that infant mortality rate that I mentioned earlier. That was a big reason why my brothers and I were born at home, my mother was terrified of getting an unnecessary c-section and losing her autonomy. It's the reason why doctors in many parts of Europe are recommending low-risk pregnancies stay home with a midwife - Britain being the main one I've seen. (Considering they have an entire television program about midwives attending homebirths 75% of the time, that is no surprise).

Of course, there are those that really would benefit from pain-killers, as with the case your co-worker experienced, but there's likely justified concern for patients and doctors to go overboard with it. There are doctors in the US who refuse to see patients with birth plans and intents for drug-free births. Seems like Japan is going in the opposite direction.

I'm starting to look really crunchy :ohwell:

I think a lot of people forget that c-sections are major abdominal surgery, and instead prefer to focus on how it's a much more "efficient" birth option. Efficient in that you know exactly how long everything is going to take, and there are far fewer variables to consider.

From the doctor's point of you, fewer variables means fewer chances for things to go wrong, and fewer risks to one's license.

Which is why the US has such a massive number of C-sections compared to the rest of the world, with most of them being deemed "unnecessary". And things can still go wrong, such as complications following the operation.

But again, not really the topic of discussion here.

I always considered it like Japan has such a strong study and work ethic. No time for sex, gotta ace those exams and get into the best college ever. No time for sex, time to work on new technology that will shape the future of the world.

Personally, I think most would avoid a C-section if possible. I only know two people who’ve had one. My mother and one of her younger sisters.

Since this is irrelevant I'll use the spoiler tag.

Anyway, to my understanding, the reason why epidurals and stuff aren’t done is because it is believed that the bond between the mother and the baby strengthens during the laboring process. It’s supposed to provide a positive image showing that the woman is strong (you're also supposed to remain quiet during the pain). They also view C-sections negatively here, as it symbolizes weakness in the woman, apparently.

Sucks though, that for those that do want to use painkillers or have epidurals, you have to plan in advanced to stay at one of the private, expensive hospitals that provides that service.

Oh and another reason why I think the birth mortality rate is low here is due to the fact that women stay in the hospital for 7 – 10 days. I was so surprised when I was told this from another coworker (his wife had just given birth). He was surprised when I told him how stateside, some go home after like two or three days.

Tbh, it wouldn't surprise me much if other developed countries also had high adult virgin rates. I mean, not in the 30% area, but there's probably more 20-30 year old virgins out there than people think there are.

People are getting married later and also spend more and more time playing video games and on the internet. That can lead to people isolating themselves. In every forum nowadays you'll see some male users complaining of never being able to get laid and things like that.

It's kinda funny the way we view sex. On one hand it's this "rite of passage" everyone is supposed to do at some point in their lives, but on the other hand it's also this taboo subject you're not supposed to talk about in a very open manner.