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Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

theguardian.com

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Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#201

Post by graycat »

m_mueller wrote: post #14

The subject is interesting, especially because I'm married to a Japanese - but man do I hate articles that go round and round like this one. Here, have a little bit of a sociological hypothesis - but let's not go too deep for your little brains shall we? Here, have a little bit of anecdotal evidence instead. Enough of that? Alright, let's start over again. [...] Oh I'm outa time, let's end the article now, kthxbye. I…

> Why can't traditional journalists not use the web the way it is meant to?

First, just because they are "traditional journalists".

Second, because they got lots of eyeballs with this article.

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#202

Post by chiaro »

lmm wrote: post #146
camus2 wrote: post #11

Who is buying all these JAV videos that make US gonzo look like Disney cartoons ? too much of it is definetly not good for the mind, especially those about v...t or o...p.....s

> too much of it is definetly not good for the mind Citation needed. One could easily argue that the ready availability of "extreme" porn is what keeps the Japanese rape (and indeed general crime) rates so low.

Low in comparison to what? The country has female-only trains in rush hours to prevent 'Chikan', or sexual assault. And of course "too much of it is bad for you", it's ridiculous to argue otherwise. (Unless what you're saying is "there's no such thing as too much porn", which is another matter entirely.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XV4...

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#203

Post by gaius »

kalleboo wrote: post #135
steven2012 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it stupid? Obviously they don't mean every single Japanese young person hasn't stopped having sex. What the author means is that as a trend, they've stopped having sex, as evidenced by the declining population, the lack of young people in relationships, etc. From the data they cited from the surveys, it seems pretty incontrovertible that there is some sort of problem, despite your own personal anecdotes.

Neither "declining population" nor "lack of young people in relationships" indicates people not having sex. It only indicates people not wanting families or kids.

Right, but those aren't the only two signs we're talking about. If people are having lots of sex but don't want kids, we might see that in booming contraceptive sales. If people are having lots of sex but not using contraception and not having kids, well that would show up in wider culture too (e.g. gay dating sites would proliferate). Sex on a personal level is a very private thing for many people in many cultures, but trends can always been seen because there is always a commercial side.

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#204

Post by nkhodyunya »

philwelch wrote: post #199
nkhodyunya wrote: post #106

Sex nowadays became a redundant, obsolete, risky, overcomplicated act which you can totally avoid with the help of good porn. So why bother with searching partner, if you can have all of sex benefits alone, but with porn or good imagination.

Are you a solipsist or just a virgin?

Neither. I've tried casual sex when I was young, 5 or 7 times before realized it's totally overrated overhyped trash.

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#205

Post by graycat »

nkhodyunya wrote: post #106

Sex nowadays became a redundant, obsolete, risky, overcomplicated act which you can totally avoid with the help of good porn. So why bother with searching partner, if you can have all of sex benefits alone, but with porn or good imagination.

Sex? Add in commitment, caring, affection, intimacy, romance, joining of lives, a good version of passion, a collection of memories, activities, traditions really like, don't want to lose, can't get anywhere else, and, thus, cause 'lock in', vows, supportive families, children ("most rewarding thing we did"), etc. One night stands are not very good on passion; it takes a while for a caring, loving couple to be good with each other with passion. One night stands are at best just mutual friction, and a simple electrical appliance can replace that.

She has two legs. He has two legs. If she breaks a leg, then she is down to one leg to help her broken leg get well. But joined with him with good vows, commitment, etc. they have four legs with three good legs to help her broken leg get well. Can rattle off 10,000 such cases faster than can say them.

People don't want to be alone. Being alone is scary. Nearly all baby mammals know this. Being joined to someone is much more secure.

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#206

Post by chiaro »

nkhodyunya wrote: post #106

Sex nowadays became a redundant, obsolete, risky, overcomplicated act which you can totally avoid with the help of good porn. So why bother with searching partner, if you can have all of sex benefits alone, but with porn or good imagination.

Ha, let's just wait until the Oculus Rift hits mainstream.

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#207

Post by [deleted] »

emiliobumachar wrote: post #105
veidr wrote: post #73

This is a stupid article, and young people in Japan have not stopped having sex. What westerners might call 'casual sex' -- sex without the framework of a relationships that implies various other promieses/committments -- is normal, and also not likely to be spoken about frankly, especially to a reporter, and much less a British one. Sometimes I'll witness a young woman asked about it at a social gathering (as people…

Do you think that the Japanese would be less inclined to speak frankly about their sex lives with foreign reporters or pollsters than, say, Koreans, Italians or Americans?

[deleted]

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#208

Post by GeneralMayhem »

gaius wrote: post #196
ferongr wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A quick check of condom sales (and/or VD statistics) can verify if people have less sex. Or it could mean that Japanese people have more unprotected sex and that they value personal hygiene and health more, resulting in lower condom sales and V.D. rates per capita.

IF fewer children are being born AND sales of contraceptives are not up THEN less sex is being had. I don't see how it is possible to argue against that.

Hormonal birth control? Environmental factors reducing births?

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#209

Post by [deleted] »

ugexe wrote: post #147
veidr wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's stupid because they have multiplied a couple anecdotes, conflated decreased reproductive output and formalized relationships with a decrease in actual sex, and gotten all breathless and hyperbolic about it. There's no evidence of any trend that young people in Japan have stopped having sex. That is what I was trying to point out: not being in an old-fashioned relationship, and not actually bearing children , doe…

Is this really that surprising? Just look at the Hikikomori increasing. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori

[deleted]

Re: Have young people in Japan stopped having sex?

#210

Post by mrcactu5 »

veidr wrote: post #73

This is a stupid article, and young people in Japan have not stopped having sex. What westerners might call 'casual sex' -- sex without the framework of a relationships that implies various other promieses/committments -- is normal, and also not likely to be spoken about frankly, especially to a reporter, and much less a British one. Sometimes I'll witness a young woman asked about it at a social gathering (as people…

are we just being "gaijin" by taking the article at face value.

japanese are particularly good at keeping different segments of their identity separate.

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