Approximately one in ten people in Japan reaches the age of 30 without ever having had an intimate relationship. Scientists cannot yet fully explain the reasons for this phenomenon.
A recent large-scale review of research, highlighted by BBC Science Focus, has shown that young people in Japan are having less and less sex, and this trend is gaining momentum.
According to the review, about half of Japanese people reach the age of 25 without any sexual experience, and one in ten remains a virgin until the age of 30.
However, even those who have already lost their virginity are not very sexually active. Online surveys from the 2020s show that about half of adult Japanese people aged 20 to 49 are "sexually inactive," meaning they haven't had sex in the past year.
National "lull"
This period of sexual calm has worsened in recent decades. While in 2002 only a third of Japanese people aged 20-24 reported having no sexual experience, by the 2020s this figure may have risen to 60% among men and 51% among women in the same age group.
The authors came to these conclusions after analyzing 38 publications based on 43 surveys on sexual trends in the country between 1974 and 2024.
Interestingly, against the backdrop of declining sexual activity in marriage and relationships, the popularity of pornography and sex services remains high, especially among the male population. For example, in some surveys conducted from 2008 to 2024, up to 60% of Japanese men admitted to having paid for sex in the past.
Why is this happening?
The study authors note that sexual behavior in Japan is a "mysterious and contradictory mix of permissiveness and an expectation of restraint." Although there is no exact cause for the phenomenon, researchers have identified several key factors.
Lack of desire. One likely reason is that people simply don't want it. A 2020 online survey found that 20-30% of men aged 20-39 said they didn't want to have sex, as did about 40% of women in both age groups.
Pragmatism. The authors suggested that perhaps unmarried adults in their 20s and 30s don't want to spend time and money dating people they don't plan to marry.
Gender roles. For women, the idea of marriage may not seem so appealing in a culture where they are expected to take on most of the responsibility for household chores.
Alternatives. The authors suggest that Japanese adults are less embarrassed about innocence and abstinence than their peers in countries like the US or the UK. At the same time, other ways of releasing sexual desire are becoming more acceptable for them.
For example, fictosexuality is the expression of romantic or sexual feelings for fictional characters. A 2017 survey of Japanese students aged 16-22 found that 14-17% of them admitted to romantic feelings for video game or anime characters.
Workaholics. At the same time, the authors write, the rigid work culture with long hours and commutes to the office makes it difficult to build relationships. About 30% of men and 15% of women work more than 50 hours a week.
The authors also point out that sexual education is limited in Japan, and very few women use hormonal contraception.
Global shift?
The study authors note that in high-income countries around the world, young people seem to be having less sex. For example, a 2019 study found that nearly a third of respondents in the UK said they had not had sex in the previous month, compared with about a quarter of those surveyed in 2001.
Dr. Vanessa Apea, a sexual health consultant, commented on the study's findings in an interview with the publication (she was not involved in the study herself). According to her, it demonstrates a change in the priorities of young Japanese people.
The data points to broad social and economic influences. She believes that the situation in Japan may be an early signal of a global shift, where technology and modern expectations are redefining how people connect, build relationships, and experience intimacy.
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