Japan has a worrying number of virgins, government finds (opens in new tab)

Virgins sell more papers though, so lets get that clickbait going.

Though, gap between ideal and reality is certainly a one of issues out there, but financial and time issues have a lot of impact to this problem.

It's amazing to see that much variation between countries.

Maybe Japan shouldn't have cracked down on love hotels.

[1] http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=31

In all seriousness, if the concern is low birthrates, how is the above a "clearly positive indicator"?

>Most people surveyed said they want to get married at some point.

This isn't delineated by gender, so I interpret it as meaning that Japanese men and women both want to get married -- but they aren't enough for each other.

>A booming industry surrounds Japan's growing condition of loneliness, a phenomenon at once quite particular to the Japanese, yet also a glimpse into a future where many people live atomized lives mediated exclusively through personal technology.

That modern philosophy tends to devalue (or rather not value) human relationships is the one thing I'm tempted to blame this on:

https://philosophyinseconds.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/the-...

But that is probably personal bias creeping up. Working hours are the popular explanation, but there is an incongruity: most Japanese claim to want to have relationships, so if they thought working hours were the problem then why haven't they complained? And how could they fail to notice something so obvious? If housing prices are the problem, how does this occur when Japan's population has been in decline for forty years?

I've heard of this phenomenon (and similar ones in Western Europe) and I pick up and discard economic explanations like bottles of some alcoholic beverage. But the alarm in the back of my head says that our culture is the problem, and it just happens to be popular in Japan. If that's the case, things will get worse, not better.

There are a number of interplaying and compounding factors that are responsible for creating this situation. I will list a few in no particular order.

- The hours are absolutely insane. My partner rarely leaves her office before 10pm, and by the time she does, she is completely exhausted and unable to do anything other than hit the sack. This type of situation is extremely prevalent and generally affects both men and women. It is no wonder that young people have no time to socialize, go out and meet potential partners when they spend 90% of their waking hours working or otherwise subordinating to this insane work cult.

- Japan is a country of predefined roles and expectations, and at different ages people are fully expected to meet certain benchmarks and seamlessly transition into new roles. One such role is that of a provider, and men are expected to be able to become full-time breadwinners by the time they hit 30. With the economy being what it is and the traditional Japanese notion of lifetime employment being a thing of the past, a lot of men aren't able to live up to these expectations and simply drop out of the dating pool. Some of it is involuntary, since Japanese women tend to maintain very high expectations as to what a man needs to be able to provide.

- Sex is generally highly available and there are all kinds of parlors, services, salons, middlemen and clubs catering to both men and women. It's cheap, legal and safe, thereby creating a disincentive for people to attempt and engage in the old fashioned mating process. On top of that - and this is going to sound completely nuts to those who aren't familiar with the country - there are full-time gigolos, both foreign and domestic, whose only life goal seems to be getting as many notches as possible. They approach women on the street, in bookstores, train stations, malls, you name it. I know a few of these characters and many of them have notches in the 3 figure range and juggle up to 7 women at a time. It's all they ever do, and I suspect that they tie up a huge number of women at any given point in time. I can't say I've noticed the same phenomenon in any other country.

- The local culture isn't exactly touchy-feely and even when people date, it's something they do because it's what young people are supposed and expected to do, not because they like their partner or dating in particular. Just a curiosity I've noticed with many couples.

Obviously, the situation is very complex and cannot be explained with a simple narrative, but I hope this helps clarify things a little.

Make it socially acceptable and even desirable to have more children. Give incentives to working men who have more children.

But I don't think virginity need be a problem. If one wants to wait until they meet their right partner why not? Data shows this leads to stronger bonds (though the causation is unknown and may be something like religion).

It's not like more premarital sex even correlates to higher birth rates. If fact for first world countries the correlation has been the inverse since the introduction of the pill in the 1960s.

I suspect child rearing is one of those things that mentally many consider to be a nuisance, but once it happens and there's a kid our emotions take significant hold and it becomes all important.

I believe we reached a sort of mild agreement that Japan's collective unconscious is still trying to process the shock of being on the receiving end of a nuclear attack.