Thu Jan 1, 2015, 11:45 AM

marmar (72,526 posts)

Japan’s sexual apathy is endangering the global economy

(Washington Post) People in Japan are so averse to romantic relationships that the country's media even has a name for it: sekkusu shinai shokogun, or "celibacy syndrome," according to a widely circulated Guardian story on the country's low rates of marriage, childbearing and even sex.

But this is more than a story about Japan and its cultural quirks: It's a story about the global economy. Japan is the world's third-largest economy, a crucial link in global trade and a significant factor everyone else's economic well-being. It owns almost as much U.S. debt as does China. It's a top trading partner of the U.S., China and lots of other countries. The Japanese economy is in serious enough trouble that it could set the rest of us back. And the biggest source of that trouble is demographic: Japanese people aren't having enough kids to sustain a healthy economy. One big reason they're having fewer kids is that they're not as interested in dating or marrying one another, in part because they're less interested in sex.

Here are a few of the statistics, some from the Guardian story and others from a 2011 report by Japan's population center:

• Extremely high numbers of Japanese do not find sex appealing. 45 percent of women and 25 percent of men, ages 16 to 24, are "not interested in or despised sexual contact."

.....(snip).....

• More than a third of childbearing-age Japanese have never had sex: 39 percent of women and 36 percent of men, ages 18 to 34. That number hasn't actually changed much over the last decade, but it is unusually high. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/22/japans-sexual-apathy-is-endangering-the-global-economy/

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107 replies	Author	Time	Post
Japan’s sexual apathy is endangering the global economy (Original post)	marmar	Jan 2015	OP
Simple answer	WhiteTara	Jan 2015	#1
Definitely.....	daleanime	Jan 2015	#3
humans beings did not evolve to be truly effective multi-taskers. We do it, but we don't do	KittyWampus	Jan 2015	#87
Key word is Choice and women are not given a Choice	WhiteTara	Jan 2015	#95
Ah, the fun of these articles	Blue_Adept	Jan 2015	#2
So what, do you think is going on?	Kber	Jan 2015	#4
This message was self-deleted by its author	otohara	Jan 2015	#10
Will look for that documentary	Boreal	Jan 2015	#31
That was a good episode	davidpdx	Jan 2015	#60
Full film on Youtube	Boreal	Jan 2015	#32
Whatever... this small problem is better than female infanticed in China!	Jeffersons Ghost	Jan 2015	#43
It's not a small problem	Boreal	Jan 2015	#44
Great video..ARIGATO!	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#81
This great article	Boreal	Jan 2015	#71
For more great articles, check out his sublime "How Japan Made me Gay".	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#72
Fair enough	Boreal	Jan 2015	#75
I didn't read her comments. nt	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#84
Thank you for that link, I like it!	betsuni	Jan 2015	#104
Yes. he's very funny	Boreal	Jan 2015	#107
Why shouldn't Japan's population contract?	Cayenne	Jan 2015	#5
Damned right.	randome	Jan 2015	#16
Have you been to Japan?	Boreal	Jan 2015	#34
No,	Cayenne	Jan 2015	#41
127 million	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#52
No one said the Japanese should	Mariana	Jan 2015	#79
Any culture that doesn't have a replacement birth rate	Boreal	Jan 2015	#80
The world should look to them as a example...	Lancero	Jan 2015	#6
+++ 1,000 +++ n/t	RKP5637	Jan 2015	#55
A "healthy economy" is not necessarily one that grows exponentially	bhikkhu	Jan 2015	#7
The media is constantly pushing this line about the danger of shrinking population while simulta-	NewDeal_Dem	Jan 2015	#8
The overpopulation myth	Boreal	Jan 2015	#35
I believe it. And I believe they'd gladly get rid of us as soon as they have enough production	NewDeal_Dem	Jan 2015	#40
sierra Club and the like? How about some examples instead of the bullshit.	HERVEPA	Jan 2015	#56
Japan is massively overpopulated	LittleBlue	Jan 2015	#9
Here is a very good article about why the Japanese are apathetic about sex.	RandySF	Jan 2015	#11
This message was self-deleted by its author	otohara	Jan 2015	#12
Wow that was brutal...	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#13
This message was self-deleted by its author	otohara	Jan 2015	#17
I have a friend who is part	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#20
I've have Japanese friends from back in Detroit and here in SF...	RandySF	Jan 2015	#39
The Japanese that of to the states are a subset and a bad example to generalize with because there	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#70
Bonobo san,	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#97
Yes I understand your point.	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#99
cute couple!	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#106
I would love to visit, but not to stay.	Jamastiene	Jan 2015	#76
Can't figure out why my fav guitar player Marty Friedman lives there but he does draw a huge crowd.	L0oniX	Jan 2015	#89
That documentary is about a club in Dotonbori, the most disgusting place in Osaka if not all Japan	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#53
Well information helps...	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#59
So Japanese people are all so immaculately elegant they can't be seedy?	KittyWampus	Jan 2015	#90
Agree, great article. I'm almost ready	callous taoboy	Jan 2015	#100
So many people have told me they want to live in Japan	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#15
I don't even want to visit Tokyo for vacation.	RandySF	Jan 2015	#37
Great article...	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#23
Maybe someone could explain their weird porn.	rickford66	Jan 2015	#30
When your only choices are overwork at some company	Warpy	Jan 2015	#36
Thanks for that. nt	Boreal	Jan 2015	#42
Comments below the blog entry	Boreal	Jan 2015	#66
Pretty sad and pathetic.	L0oniX	Jan 2015	#86
That articles basically says the economy is hurt when people don't have kids	treestar	Jan 2015	#14
Japan is crowded	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#22
Thanks did not know that	treestar	Jan 2015	#29
Its strange the transition from urban areas to countryside agricultural areas is abrupt.	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#33
I blame it on hentai.	Silent3	Jan 2015	#18
That dates back to 1814 so no dice with that theory...	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#21
I'm sure if I work at it...	Silent3	Jan 2015	#64
This message was self-deleted by its author	chrisa	Jan 2015	#58
Missing from this story is that a Japanese family doesn't work with shitty part time job	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#19
Hence the phrase...	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#24
The phrase is:	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#46
Thank you for the correction...	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#47
I'd say the wheels have come off the bus, but I think that is an insult to wheel-less buses.	Warren DeMontague	Jan 2015	#48
It's crazy the confidence with which people say "The problem with Japan is...."	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#49
By the way, have you seen	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#61
No, but I spend only a tiny fraction of the time here that I used to. nt	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#62
ah, okay...	yuiyoshida	Jan 2015	#63
Curious what you think the reason people are not creating	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#65
I am accepted AND I am a foreigner.	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#67
Thank you	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#69
I don't think that it's only an economic problem	Kuroneko	Jan 2015	#88
The problem in Japan..	sendero	Jan 2015	#26
I think the major issue Japan will face will be a shortage of people to take care of their elderly.	dilby	Jan 2015	#25
I got to wonder about the whole robot thing	exboyfil	Jan 2015	#57
The Japanese are deeply Nationalists.	dilby	Jan 2015	#94
Extremely untrue.	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#98
And now PM Abe wants to reform education to "instill patriotism in schoolchildren ...	betsuni	Jan 2015	#101
maybe they need to be more open to immigration	JI7	Jan 2015	#27
to what end?	Cayenne	Jan 2015	#51
They are having enough kids to support healthy economy. Just not run away capitalist one.	on point	Jan 2015	#28
Hear, hear!	smirkymonkey	Jan 2015	#54
I blame it all on anime.	rug	Jan 2015	#38
The foreign women i know who teach at universities in Japan	betsuni	Jan 2015	#45
I agree with your observations about rural/urban.	Bonobo	Jan 2015	#50
If people are eshewing rural life	Boreal	Jan 2015	#74
MUST FUCK FOR CAPITALISM	NuclearDem	Jan 2015	#68
Close your eyes and think of Japan	betsuni	Jan 2015	#77
heh	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#82
WaPo is trash	MFrohike	Jan 2015	#73
They're all living on a crowded island. Might that have something to do with it? n/t	eridani	Jan 2015	#78
More so a society with well defined, unbendable roles...nt	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#83
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Jan 2015	#85
Welcome to DU.	lostnfound	Jan 2015	#91
Welcome to DU.	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#92
They show a sizably greater-than-average rate of kaiju incursion, too.	Orrex	Jan 2015	#93
Well, we all know who's to blame...	joeybee12	Jan 2015	#96
Japan 2014 births fall to lowest on record	Jesus Malverde	Jan 2015	#102
WOW! This is HUGH!!@@!!	DiverDave	Jan 2015	#103
There so many interesting and thoughtful posts in this thread	Renew Deal	Jan 2015	#105

Response to marmar (Original post)

Thu Jan 1, 2015, 12:20 PM

WhiteTara (27,003 posts)

1. Simple answer

stop forcing women to choose between careers and family. Of course, that would require a change of society and we know how that goes.

Japan’s sexual apathy is endangering the global economy

1. Simple answer

3. Definitely.....

87. humans beings did not evolve to be truly effective multi-taskers. We do it, but we don't do

95. Key word is Choice and women are not given a Choice

2. Ah, the fun of these articles

4. So what, do you think is going on?

31. Will look for that documentary

60. That was a good episode

32. Full film on Youtube

43. Whatever... this small problem is better than female infanticed in China!

44. It's not a small problem

81. Great video..ARIGATO!

71. This great article

72. For more great articles, check out his sublime "How Japan Made me Gay".

75. Fair enough

84. I didn't read her comments. nt

104. Thank you for that link, I like it!

107. Yes. he's very funny

5. Why shouldn't Japan's population contract?

16. Damned right.

34. Have you been to Japan?

41. No,

52. 127 million

79. No one said the Japanese should

80. Any culture that doesn't have a replacement birth rate

6. The world should look to them as a example...

55. +++ 1,000 +++ n/t

7. A "healthy economy" is not necessarily one that grows exponentially

8. The media is constantly pushing this line about the danger of shrinking population while simulta-

35. The overpopulation myth

40. I believe it. And I believe they'd gladly get rid of us as soon as they have enough production

56. sierra Club and the like? How about some examples instead of the bullshit.

9. Japan is massively overpopulated

11. Here is a very good article about why the Japanese are apathetic about sex.

13. Wow that was brutal...

20. I have a friend who is part

39. I've have Japanese friends from back in Detroit and here in SF...

70. The Japanese that of to the states are a subset and a bad example to generalize with because there

97. Bonobo san,

99. Yes I understand your point.

106. cute couple!

76. I would love to visit, but not to stay.

89. Can't figure out why my fav guitar player Marty Friedman lives there but he does draw a huge crowd.

53. That documentary is about a club in Dotonbori, the most disgusting place in Osaka if not all Japan

59. Well information helps...

90. So Japanese people are all so immaculately elegant they can't be seedy?

100. Agree, great article. I'm almost ready

15. So many people have told me they want to live in Japan

37. I don't even want to visit Tokyo for vacation.

23. Great article...

30. Maybe someone could explain their weird porn.

36. When your only choices are overwork at some company

42. Thanks for that. nt

66. Comments below the blog entry

86. Pretty sad and pathetic.

14. That articles basically says the economy is hurt when people don't have kids

22. Japan is crowded

29. Thanks did not know that

33. Its strange the transition from urban areas to countryside agricultural areas is abrupt.

18. I blame it on hentai.

21. That dates back to 1814 so no dice with that theory...

64. I'm sure if I work at it...

19. Missing from this story is that a Japanese family doesn't work with shitty part time job

24. Hence the phrase...

46. The phrase is:

47. Thank you for the correction...

48. I'd say the wheels have come off the bus, but I think that is an insult to wheel-less buses.

49. It's crazy the confidence with which people say "The problem with Japan is...."

61. By the way, have you seen

62. No, but I spend only a tiny fraction of the time here that I used to. nt

63. ah, okay...

65. Curious what you think the reason people are not creating

67. I am accepted AND I am a foreigner.

69. Thank you

88. I don't think that it's only an economic problem

26. The problem in Japan..

25. I think the major issue Japan will face will be a shortage of people to take care of their elderly.

57. I got to wonder about the whole robot thing

94. The Japanese are deeply Nationalists.