© na
Young Japanese men are losing interest in sex, according to a study commissioned by the government, in a further warning sign for a nation notorious for its low birth rate, a doctor said Friday.
The survey also found that more than 40 percent of married people said they have not had sex in the past month, said Kunio Kitamura, head of the clinic of the Japan Family Planning Association, who took part in the survey.
"This is directly linked with falling birth rate. Policy actions are necessary," Kitamura told AFP.
The data confirmed a wider social belief that younger men are becoming "herbivorous", a label attached to passive men who do not actively seek women and sex.
The latest biennial survey found that 36.1 percent of Japanese males between the ages of 16-19 said they had no interest or even despised sex, a jump from 17.5 percent in the 2008 study.
Compounding the issue was data that showed 59 percent of girls in the same age group felt the same way, up 12 percentage points from 2008.
The data is a worry for a government aiming to encourage couples to have children to reverse a falling birth rate and avert a potential economic calamity.
Japan's total fertility rate in 2009 was estimated by the government at 1.37 births per woman, one of the world's lowest, compared with 2.06 in the United States and 1.97 in France.
The trend has been largely blamed on a widespread belief, especially in rural Japan, that women who give birth should quit their jobs, amid shortages of childcare centres and other systemic factors.
Japan's population has already started to decline as younger people delay starting a family due to the perceived burden on their finances, lifestyles and careers.
A growing population of elderly, known for their longevity, is meanwhile overwhelming a welfare system that is decreasingly supported by a shrinking workforce, meaning that tax revenue is declining.
Collectively, the survey found all age categories showed a general lack of interest toward sex, except for men in their 30-34 years of age with just 5.8 percent of these respondents not interested, as opposed to 8.3 percent in 2008.
The survey also found that 40.8 percent of married people said they had not had sex in the past month, up from 36.5 percent in the 2008 survey and 31.9 percent in the 2004 survey.
Nearly 50 percent of married people older than 40 years old said they have not had sex in the past month, the study said.
Among reasons for not having sex, survey participants cited vague reluctance after childbirth, that they could not be bothered, or that they were too tired after work, it said.
The survey, conducted by a team of experts commissioned by the health ministry, received valid answers from 671 men and 869 women in interviews.
It was originally designed to gauge the success of Japan's birth control education with an aim to reduce unwanted pregnancies, Kitamura said.
But the falling abortion rate may be a result of a general indifference toward sex and not attributable to the success of sex education, he said.
Source: Agence France-Presse
November 6, 1994
Q: (L) Now, I was just reading in “Bringers of the Dawn” about male energy and female energy and it says:
“We have said that the male vibration will transform in a very short period of time. We will not tell you why or how because some of you will consider it to be entirely too ominous, however, we will say that as the waves continue to come there will be a unilateral rising of consciousness within the population. At a certain point, when men are in the deepest point of mastering feeling, the feeling center will be activated. This will either occur gently or it will be blown wide open.”
What will be “entirely too ominous?”
A: Energy redirection.
Q: (L) Energy direction is going to happen and that is what you are saying is the ominous thing here?
A: Overview.
Q: (L) Well, what does energy direction specifically mean? What kind of energy?
A: Sexual.
Q: (L) And this is going to be the ominous event that would frighten people?
A: Repercussions.
Q: (L) What are the repercussions?
A: Many.
Q: (L) Could you tell us some of them?
A: First you must figure out answer to number one.
Q: (L) Well, sexual energy “redirected”; does this mean women will stop having sex with men?
A: Not exactly.
Q: (L) Am I close?
A: Yes. Men will lose most of their drive in favor of more spiritual pursuits. It is the sex drive that is at the root of most of the historical aggression and lack of feeling on the part of the male.
Q: (L) Can we tell others?
A: Might cause turmoil but up to you.
Q: (L) I noticed that at about the same time I began meditating heavily that my drive plummeted. Is this because of the meditation?
A: Yes. Females will lose some drive too. But how will humans react to this, that is the question. Will they be prepared?
Q: (L) Does this mean that everybody is going to lose interest in sex?
A: Will have much less and must learn to relate to each other more spiritually.
Q: (L) Is this because one of the major drives of the human being is for contact and, up to now, this has been manifested through sexual union and without the sexual urge they will be forced to find other ways to relate?
A: One would hope so. You are all moving toward 4th level which is less physical thus you must learn this existence in order to pass through into the 4th level.