The secret behind Japan's plunging birth rate?
A record 39.7 percent of Japanese citizens ages 16-49 have not had sex for more than a month -- up 5 percentage points from two years ago -- according to a survey published this week by the Japan Family Planning Association.
Among married couples, the rate was only slightly lower, at 34.6 percent.
"This is extremely bad news for the country's birth rate, and it is something the government needs to look into very urgently," said Kunio Kitamura, the family planning association's director.
Faltering birthrate
The survey comes amid concerns over Japan's faltering birthrate, which fell in 2005 to a record low of 1.26 births in an average woman's lifetime. The decline has stoked fears of impending tax revenue shortfalls and labor shortages.
"The situation is dismal," Kitamura said. "My research shows that if you don't have sex for a month, you probably won't for a year."
Kitamura partly blamed stress from busy working lives.
Internet responsible?
A decline in physical communication skills in an increasingly Web-based society was also a factor, he said.
The association said it distributed survey forms to 2,713 randomly selected people and received responses from 636 men and 773 women last November. It gave no margin of error.
In a similar poll taken two years ago, 35 percent reported having no sex for a month.
Japan came last in a 29-country study of sexual satisfaction that was published by the University of Chicago last year, with a mere 25.7 percent of lovers expressing satisfaction in bed.
The country also finished in last place among 41 nations in a 2005 poll by condom manufacturer Durex, with Japanese people having sex just 45 times a year compared with a global average of 103.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
CAUTION URGED: Xiaohongshu and Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its ‘united front’ propaganda, the MAC said Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty. Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.” Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute. When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan