In Japan, however, the government appears interested enough in its citizens to conduct the research itself. (Presumably, because of its soon to be rapidly declining population.)
So, what does the latest survey reveal?:
One-third of Japanese men aged 16 to 19 were uninterested in or even averse to sex as of last year, double the number from 2008, a government survey showed Wednesday.Well, one suspects that this is misleading, unless the survey specified that "sex" means "with another person."
Anyhow, the interpretation of this is given as follows:
As for the broader relevance of this: I read recently that Japan, Korea and Taiwan were amongst the lowest birthrate countries in the world. I'm pretty sure they all have very fast and pretty cheap internet access. Has anyone done the research into fast internet access and birthrates across the world??*‘‘The survey result confirmed that young men have become ‘herbivorous’,’’ said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Clinic of the Japan Family Planning Association who took part in the survey, using the term used increasingly in Japan to describe young males who are shy and passive in relationships with women.
According to the ministry, 35.1% of men aged 16 to 19 said they are uninterested in or averse to sex, surging from 17.5% in the previous poll in 2008.
The percentage climbed to 21.5% among men aged 20 to 24 from 11.8% two years earlier, and among women of any age group, the survey showed.
Those married men and women who said they had no sex in the past month totaled 40.8%, up from 36.5% in the previous survey and 31.9% in a 2004 study.
Any proper evaluation into Australia's National Broadband Network clearly should consider its population effects in 25 years time.
* I guess fast internet is unlikely to be the explanation for Russia's birthrate, but fast vodka may well have something to do with it.
The low birthrate problem in Japan long pre-dates the internet Steve.
ReplyDeleteZero correlation / causation.
The Japanese also have zero privacy and few options for having sex, although "love" hotels have become big business over there. Married couples often live in a shoebox with one or the other's parents. They can't afford to rent or buy their own home.
Women are still expected to give up work when they marry, and certainly when they have a child ... incentive for women to breed? ... zero.
The Japanese culture is not obsessed with romance or "the couple" the way we are in the West. Most Japanese women do not find their men romantic or seductive.
If you look at the broader culture, and the porn that is popular over there - but also the broader culture (eg, Hello Kitty) - it's all very infantilized. Hardly grown up stuff.
But no, not the internet creating any of this, it's been the case for decades. Sultry school girls have long been depicted in comics, the popularity of such might reflect that Japanese men don't cope well with grown up women.
It's the culture, not the web and not porn.
Caz, I was being somewhat tongue in cheek, you know.
ReplyDeleteThe strange result of the survey is the increase in teenage guys saying that they are uninterested in sex.
Maybe just not a very random survey, I guess.
Sorry Steve, didn't think you were joking about the internet comment.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think it odd that the findings in relation to teenaged boys are what they are.
All it shows is how overwhelming are the social and cultural influences when it comes to sex and sexuality.
In the West, we think we're so superior, and that somehow we've chucked the repression of society in exchange for sexual honesty and freedom. Bunkum, of course.
Japan's failure to reproduce itself, and disinterest in sex, has been decades long, and counting. In that environment, I don't find it at all surprising that teenagers are also uninterested.
Hey, that's the same country where some teenaged boys lock themselves in their rooms for months or years at a time ... no interest in life, period, let alone sex.
There are some weird social phenomena over there Steve.
My (predictably) selectionist theory about Japan's predicament. Vast swathes of their tough guys got killed in fights as samurai, ronin, and then kamikaze and soldiers over the centuries. When you read all their period drama novels and comics you get the impression that their warrior classes went around looking for the next tough guy to defeat and considered it an honour to die in battle.
ReplyDeleteSo what's left in Japan are the people inclined towards herbivoric behaviour
Jason
Heh. Well, it might be good for the international community in the long run if that were true.
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat interested in explanations for Japanese cruelty in war in the 20th century, apart from the usual stuff about honour and nationalism, etc. I think I read briefly somewhere once that the military (or perhaps the mid level military leadership, like NCO's) were disproportionately drawn from the criminal classes and already predisposed to cruelty.