The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research recently surveyed people from Japan ages 18 to 34 and found that a large percentage of people who were unmarried were not in a relationship. About 60 percent of unmarried women and 70 percent of unmarried men were not in any kind of relationship, Japan Times reported Thursday. Of those surveyed, 44.2 percent of women revealed they were virgins, while 42 percent of men revealed they, too, had never had sexual intercourse. The study conducted in June 2015 included 6,598 married couples and 8,754 singles. (emphasis added)
The study’s findings are not exactly surprising. The birthrate has dropped significantly in Japan, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to encourage more couples to “boost the birthrate,” according to Japan Times. The Japanese government has also added services that it hopes will encourage families to reproduce, like increasing availability at nursery schools.
Japan’s census recently released numbers from 2015 that revealed a staggering population drop largely attributed to its sinking birthrate and its aging population. In 2010, the census showed the population at 128 million. By 2015, it had dropped to 127 million, the Washington Post reported.
Japan’s National […]
This may be a natural response to crowding. A growing population is not a good thing any more.
There are too many people, plus Japan has had a very anti-immigrant stance as well as a cultural bias against intermarriage with other nationalities. I have met many Japanese women over 26 who come to the US in search of a husband because in Japan they are referred to as “stale bread”.
For me personally, it is very acceptable for Japan to have a low birthrate and I hope other countries follow suit. In another article here today the loss of bird population is mourned. This is clearly because of too many humans either killing them out right, killing them with pesticides etc. or loss of habitat due to human activity.
From what I have read the decline in fertility is slowest in places that treat woman and families well, like Scandinavia, and highest in patriarchal societies like Italy and Japan. Perhaps patriarchy is incompatible with human civilization under modern conditions. it would explain why the right wing seems to hate modernity so much.
If so and we survive long enough it will cure itself.