Richard Flamm
The Paw Print
An unprecedented number of young adults in Japan have stopped having sex. The Guardian reports, “Japan’s under-40s appear to be losing interest in conventional relationships. Millions aren’t even dating, and increasing numbers can’t be bothered with sex.” Japan is no stranger to this, as for the past decade it has maintained one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and continues to produce less and less babies. Their government has coined it “celibacy syndrome,” as an entire third of people under the age of thirty have never even dated. The BBC interviews a young Japanese man, Yusaki Yakahashi, on why he is uninterested in sex: “Building a relationship seems like too much effort. To get her to like me and for me to like her… I’d have to give up everything I do at the weekend for her. I don’t want to do that.” Causes for this attitude encompass a range of speculation, including the country’s strong focus on career to the decline of organized religion to the prevalence of video games. The Sun-Sentinel speculates on the cause, “the sense of romantic futility and disillusionment in Japan feels distinct. Trapped by outdated gender roles and crunched for both time and money, the young people in the story seem to be throwing up their hands in surrender.” This attitude towards sex and marriage does have certain correlations to western countries who are also marrying later and forgoing children, as well as the increase in casual hook-up sex over longer term relationships.
The trend is certainly surprising, and if it continues will have drastic implications for not only our generation, but even more so for the one that follows us.
What’s Been Said…