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Work leaves some Japanese too used up to have sex. (Photo by Wataru Ito)
ERIKO FUKUYAMA, Nikkei staff writerMarch 24, 2024 19:18 JST
TOKYO -- Nearly 40% of married Japanese in their 30s who want children are sexless, research reveals, casting a shadow over the country's efforts to tackle declining births.
Academic research and studies of the phenomenon of sexlessness, in which partners experience low or zero sexual activity, are gaining traction in Japan.
Although definitions of sexlessness vary, the Japan Society of Sexual Science broadly defines it as a state in which a couple has not had any sex for over a month and the situation will likely last longer.
Yoshie Moriki, a professor at the International Christian University, and other researchers compiled a scholarly paper in 2022 based on findings from a 2010 nationwide survey of 9,000 men and women ages 20 to 59 to analyze sexual activities between spouses.
About 45% of the respondents had sex less than once a month. Even among those who desired children, the rates of sexlessness were significant: 22% of those in their 20s, 37% in their 30s and 50% in their 40s.
Notably, those desiring a second child faced even higher sexlessness rates: 40% in their 20s, 48% in their 30s, and 67% in their 40s.
Moriki attributes this partly to cultural factors, saying Japanese tend to feel happiness as a family when the couple sleep with their children by their side, prioritizing child-oriented life over the marital relationship.
There is also a social factor, she said. "Some couples are too busy with their jobs and do not have the psychological capacity" to have sex.
Analysis by Yuji Genda, a professor at the University of Tokyo, shows that long working hours generally lead to married couples having less sex. This tendency is particularly strong among women, who are likely to experience more stress at work.
