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More than forty per cent of young singletons in Japan are virgins, according to a new study that highlights concerns about the country's demographic challenges. Japan already suffers from the world's oldest population and a shrinking birthrate, with the government struggling to incentivise marriage and parenthood.

Now a survey of unmarried people aged 18 to 34 found that around 42 per cent of men and 44.2 per cent of single women had never had sex.

The country's government has worked hard to booth the birthrate in recent years, providing incentives such as support for child care and tax breaks.

The new data however indicates, that, if anything Japanese men and women are growing apart.

The last time the study was conducted in 2010, only 36.2 per cent of men and 38.7 percent of women said they were virgins.

Nearly 90 per cent of the respondents said they want to get married “sometime in the future.” But 30 per cent of the 2,706 men sampled and 26 per cent of the 2,570 female respondents said they were not currently looking for a relationship.

The lack of sexual activity can seem at odds with a society saturated with sexual images, from television and manga comics to city billboards.

But recent years have seen a shift in traditional family structures, and a protracted economic slowdown as a global powerhouse, which has reportedly resulted in many men struggling to hold down secure, full-time jobs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09 ... ns-says-s/

Not really an accurate survey seeing the age range of between 18 and 34 is too wide. How do we know that most of them who are virgins are still in their teens or early twenties? It would have been more worthwhile to do it from ages 25+ or 30+.

jamesbond wrote: The new data however indicates, that, if anything Japanese men and women are growing apart.

In many Western countries men and women are already apart.... and not to talk about the Islamic world.

In Japan this takes a while, but the trend is similar, not because of Western hateful feminism and mistrust or because of gender separation in Islam, but more about economic reasons.

if your job is not secure and your income is low it is much easier to take care only of yourself without any consideration of wife and children and all what comes with it, like housing loans, a car or educational expenses for the children.

No question about it here in Japan -there is plenty of occasional work. Remain single, rent a tiny room and do some part-time work and you will still survive - quite comfortable - without being worried about anything.

Zambales wrote:Not really an accurate survey seeing the age range of between 18 and 34 is too wide. How do we know that most of them who are virgins are still in their teens or early twenties? It would have been more worthwhile to do it from ages 25+ or 30+.

I don't see why it matters. Adult is adult. If they did 18 - 99 the number would be lower, but the are looking at young people. If they did 18-22 the number would probably be quite a bit higher, but 23 - 30 can still be considered long people. 34 is as good a cutoff point as any, but starting with a number other than 18 would be disingenuous.

The_Adventurer wrote: I don't see why it matters.

You don't see because you are innumerate. If 95% of 18yo virgins, 90% of 19yo, and so on until 5% of 34yo, that just means Japanese tend to start sex later than in other countries. Whereas if 50% of 18yo and 40% of 34yo, that implies a hard core of people who don't have sex. Big difference.

They should give the percentages of virgins at every age to tell the true story.

retiredfrank wrote:

The_Adventurer wrote: I don't see why it matters.

You don't see because you are innumerate. If 95% of 18yo virgins, 90% of 19yo, and so on until 5% of 34yo, that just means Japanese tend to start sex later than in other countries. Whereas if 50% of 18yo and 40% of 34yo, that implies a hard core of people who don't have sex. Big difference.

They should give the percentages of virgins at every age to tell the true story.

You don't get it, yet you feel free to throw around insults as if you have any idea my level of mathematics. This makes me suspect if you truly know what innumerate means.

Did you even read the article? Anyone who has any interest in Japan, and any level of awareness of their economic and demographic problems would see that what you suggest would provide pretty much useless information. Aside from the fact that it's already known that Japanese don't start sex later than any other country, the study has always been done in the 18 to 34 young adult group, and the important point is the large rise in the percentage since the last time the survey was done. That's the trend, and in relation to Japans aging population and dangerously low birth rate, that's what is important.

You're spouting nonsense.

The_Adventurer wrote:you feel free to throw around insults as if you have any idea my level of mathematics. This makes me suspect if you truly know what innumerate means.

Zambales made a good point and you responded in a way that showed you are innumerate. I then expanded on Zambales's point to make both Zambales's point and your innumeracy more evident.

retiredfrank wrote:

The_Adventurer wrote:you feel free to throw around insults as if you have any idea my level of mathematics. This makes me suspect if you truly know what innumerate means.

Zambales made a good point and you responded in a way that showed you are innumerate. I then expanded on Zambales's point to make both Zambales's point and your innumeracy more evident.

And I just explained how idiotic your response was, as you clearly know nothing about Japan and what they are facing, or what data they actually need.

So Japanese didn't even need feminism to break up the family. Apparently it's so expensive there, they're just hoping to hold onto a cardboard box, rather than risk getting a woman pregnant. Sounds like a terrible place to live. Or maybe it's that if they get divorced, the man will NEVER see his children again.

How can this be explained biologically? Don't they have physical urges? Is there something in the rice, like copper sulphate?

How can young people not feel the urge to copulate? Even if you think marriage is a death trap, you can still have sex.

Kradmelder wrote:How can this be explained biologically? Don't they have physical urges? Is there something in the rice, like copper sulphate?

How can young people not feel the urge to copulate? Even if you think marriage is a death trap, you can still have sex.

They are masturbating to porn and using sex toys/dolls.

Adama wrote:So Japanese didn't even need feminism to break up the family
.....
maybe it's that if they get divorced, the man will NEVER see his children again.

Most Japanese men like the idea, after divorce they do not see the children again if the ex-wife is refusing such a request, but there is also no obligation to pay any child support.

Also US-military servicemen like that idea, just leaving Okinawa, forget about the Japanese girlfriend and the problem is finished.

Most divorces in Japan are out of court, child support is a private matter in Japan, sometimes divorced couples create a civil contract that the man will pay every time some money when he is visiting the children, something like that.

retiredfrank wrote: They are masturbating to porn and using sex toys/dolls.

Some few will do that, others maybe not. In Japan hostess services are legal, not even so expensive.
Another solution might be a short cheap flight to somewhere in China, or Philippines over the weekend.

The content of this survey is not really clear to me.
I doubt if really more than 40 percent of all Japanese men and women are indeed 'virgins'.

It would be good to see the original questions in Japanese.
Many Japanese herbivore men have some sexual life, but refuse merely responsibility, no marriage, no co-habitation, just living in their small room alone, but they are not alone when outdoors.

Yohan wrote:

Adama wrote:So Japanese didn't even need feminism to break up the family
.....
maybe it's that if they get divorced, the man will NEVER see his children again.

Most Japanese men like the idea, after divorce they do not see the children again if the ex-wife is refusing such a request, but there is also no obligation to pay any child support.

Also US-military servicemen like that idea, just leaving Okinawa, forget about the Japanese girlfriend and the problem is finished.

Most divorces in Japan are out of court, child support is a private matter in Japan, sometimes divorced couples create a civil contract that the man will pay every time some money when he is visiting the children, something like that.

That is terrible. The man is held to ransom and must pay to see his own kids? If a man wants to see his kids, if he wants to file for custody, does he have any legal recourse if the mother refuses access?

Why would japanese men accept such a blatantly unfair practice? Who would even want to breed when a wife can just walk out and charge you big bucks just to see your kids? the kids become a money making commodity.

Kradmelder wrote: That is terrible. The man is held to ransom and must pay to see his own kids? If a man wants to see his kids, if he wants to file for custody, does he have any legal recourse if the mother refuses access?

Why would japanese men accept such a blatantly unfair practice? Who would even want to breed when a wife can just walk out and charge you big bucks just to see your kids? the kids become a money making commodity.

It is even more unfair in Western countries.

The father is forced to pay child support and if he cannot he might even be sent to jail. And if he pays, there is still no guarantee to see his children...
And the ex-wife is using the child support money for herself... etc. Plenty of complaints.

------

In Japan, most fathers prefer simply to disappear, without paying anything. And openly said, many foreign men too.
Still by far better than in Western countries for fathers, as there is no obligatory child support in Japanese law.

Sometimes however even the mother disappears, especially if she is a foreign national.

I am active with an orphanage in Tokyo, and there are about totally 30000 totally forgotten children in those homes.
However if you look the faces of those children, you will quickly see that about 1 out of 5 is clearly NOT a Japanese child.

In the group I visit frequently, one is a black girl, another one is a Filipina, one boy is a Chinese, some are of mixed race, who is the father? And often even the question who is the mother?

Japanese are also reluctant - similar to Chinese - to take care of children who do not belong to their own family.

Even in my personal case, nobody of my Japanese family or even out of our Japanese office staff wants to have anything to do with my Filipina foster daughter. Japanese give a lot of things, also financial support to help poor foreign children, but reject any personal contact.
Most Chinese are quite similar reacting... they don't care about who is the neighbor, even not about children in poverty.

In Japan to answer your question, custody usually goes to the mother or to her relatives, as father the chances are rather limited, except in case of mistreatment and other serious problems and there is nobody else who cares. -

Most Japanese couples however find some solution among themselves, there is no Japanese law regulating visitation rights, child support etc. etc.
It's considered to be a private matter.