According to The Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) survey, 48 percent of married couples had not had sex in the previous month, marking a new record in a country already facing a crisis due to falling birth rates.
Almost half of married Japanese couples are not having sex, going to a 'cry of distress' from men who are rejected by their wives. Among the most important reasons cited is that sexual intimacy with one's spouse is "a hassle."
The survey of 16- to 49-year-olds has been carried out eight times in the last 20 years and each time has revealed an increase in sexless marriages - defined as couples who have not had sex for for a month. In 2004, when it was first carried out, the proportion was only 32%.
"From the point of view of a society with fewer children, this is a serious trend," said Kunio Kitamura, president of the JFPA. "I think that trend will continue."
When giving reasons for abstinence, nearly a quarter of men said their partner was not interested. Kitamura added, "This is a remarkable figure and could be seen as a cry of distress from men."
Among the explanations for the lack of interest in sex are the poor quality of sex education and the decline of traditional dating agencies, which used to arrange unions between young people of marriageable age. Others attribute it to the habit of young Japanese people to socialize in groups, making it harder for men and women to break up into couples, and to the rise of hikikomori, or social recluses, who live at home and never go out.
Some couples don't expect to maintain a regular sex life after children arrive, and small, thin-walled apartments offer few opportunities for privacy. Poor communication is also cited as a factor, particularly among older people, who are constrained from discussing sex even with their spouses.
