Are solitary pleasures replacing physical connections between young people in Japan? A recent study carried out in Japan by the Japan Association for Sex Education (JASE) among 12,562 students reveals a significant drop in the number of young people who have already exchanged a kiss since 2005. This decline is particularly marked among boys, with only 22.8 % of respondents in 2023-2024 reporting having kissed someone, the lowest rate ever recorded and lower than in 1987 (23.1%) according to the daily Mainichi Shimbun. Girls have a slightly higher rate of 27.5%, although this figure has fallen by 13.5 percentage points since 2017.
Sociologist Yusuke Hayashi attributes this phenomenon in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has limited social interactions. However, this trend already existed before the health crisis. In 2006, the term “herbivores” was coined to describe Japanese people with no interest in physical relationships, viewing kissing and sex as “boring.” Statistics show that only 15% of girls and 12% of boys under the age of 18 report having had sex.
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A tendency to practice masturbation
Paradoxically, the study indicates an increase in the practice of masturbation in all age groups, reaching records among middle school and high school students. Hayashi suggests that this trend may be linked to increased exposure to sexual depictions in the media, rather than a substitute for interpersonal relationships.
Faced with this lack of interest in physical relationships, the Japanese authorities are increasing initiatives to encourage young people to be more interested in sexuality. In this context, Tenga, a company specializing in sex toys, launched the Caressa range to encourage physical contact, and recently expanded its offering with food supplements aimed at reducing body odor to encourage physical contact. But it's not certain that the improvement in the smell of Japanese teenagers' underarms will be enough to revive their attraction to trifles… and birth rates.
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