MOSCOW (PNA/Sputnik) – A new study of millennials in Japan has found that 42 percent of men and 44.2 percent of women are virgins.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (NIPSSR) surveyed 2,706 men and 2,570 women aged 18-34, and found that, in addition to the rising percentage of young Japanese who have never had sex, nearly 70 percent of unmarried men and 60 percent of unmarried women are not currently in a sexual relationship.
“The government won’t be pleased that sexlessness is becoming as Japanese as sumo and sake,” Japan Times reported.
“The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked up boosting the birthrate through support for child care, but until the nation bones up on bedroom gymnastics there’ll be no medals to hand out.”
Nearly 90 percent of survey respondents told researchers that they do want to get married “sometime in the future”, but 30 percent said they are not currently looking for a relationship.
“They want to tie the knot eventually. But they tend to put it off as they have gaps between their ideals and the reality,” said Futoshi Ishii, head of the NIPSSR population dynamics research department.
“That’s why people marry later or stay single for life, contributing to the nation’s low birthrate.”