You Guys, No One In Japan Wants To Have Sex Anymore And I Am Really Scared
I've never read anything about the digital age that has put me off believing the internet is the BFF of humanity, but this one might do it.
Just read this WTF news story that young people in Japan ‘don’t care’ about sex–the most young person thing to care about since the dawn of time. Apparently “millions” of young people aren’t even dating because they feel so apathetic about sex. This is a real thing, Japanese media is calling it sekkusu shinai shokogun, which translates to “celibacy syndrome” and could reduce the country’s already diminishing population by a third. Seems insane.
The number of single people has reached a record high. A survey in 2011 found that 61% of unmarried men and 49% of women aged 18-34 were not in any kind of romantic relationship, a rise of almost 10% from five years earlier. Another study found that a third of people under 30 had never dated at all. (There are no figures for same-sex relationships.) Although there has long been a pragmatic separation of love and sex in Japan – a country mostly free of religious morals – sex fares no better. A survey earlier this year by the Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) found that 45% of women aged 16-24 “were not interested in or despised sexual contact”. More than a quarter of men felt the same way.
The population stats are getting bleak, like, Japan might go extinct, I think. But I can’t wrap my head around how so many people are just ambivalent about sex. I’ve never read anything about the digital age that has put me off believing the internet is the BFF of humanity, but this one might do it.
“Both men and women say to me they don’t see the point of love. They don’t believe it can lead anywhere,” says Aoyama. “Relationships have become too hard.”
Pass the Prozac, please, this is unbearably bleak. I don’t see what’s stopping this from happening in America. Sure, I am as guilty of anyone as loving singleness and being cynical about what people really get out of relationships these days, but neither of those views have diminished the value of love or sex or liking to be around people. I can’t imagine getting that misanthropic.
Aoyama cites one man in his early 30s, a virgin, who can’t get sexually aroused unless he watches female robots on a game similar to Power Rangers.
Ummmm. Is this the future? I’m so scared.
the decision to stay single often makes perfect sense. This is true for both sexes, but it’s especially true for women. “Marriage is a woman’s grave,” goes an old Japanese saying that refers to wives being ignored in favour of mistresses. For Japanese women today, marriage is the grave of their hard-won careers.
This is so true though… help.
Romantic commitment seems to represent burden and drudgery, from the exorbitant costs of buying property in Japan to the uncertain expectations of a spouse and in-laws. And the centuries-old belief that the purpose of marriage is to produce children endures. Japan’s Institute of Population and Social Security reports an astonishing 90% of young women believe that staying single is “preferable to what they imagine marriage to be like”.
This really is the future for all of us…I’m sad.
Asada, who studied economics, has no interest in love. “I gave up dating three years ago. I don’t miss boyfriends or sex. I don’t even like holding hands.”
