October 14, 2004
The Japan that says "no" far too often
Condom manufacturer Durex has released its annual survey of sexual activity around the world and of the figures presented in this AFP story, Japan ranks the lowest of all, with a paltry (and somewhat surprising) 46 times annual average.
Asians are the least sexually active. Japanese have just 46 rolls in the hay per year, followed by Hong Kong Chinese and
Singaporeans with 79, Taiwanese with 80, Indians with 82 and 90 for mainland Chinese, the survey said.
A record 350,000 people in 41 countries were questioned for the company's ninth annual online survey.(AFP 10/13/04)
Just two somewhat impish comments on this one, in spite of any tempation to say more: First, such infrequnt sexual activity might help explain the potentially problematic demographic situation in Japan.
Population Pyramid (1930-2050)
(Source: National Institute of Population
and Social Security Research)
Second, small wonder Japan is often perceived as having obsessions with (often strange) sex(ual fantasies) * – perhaps it’s because they simply aren’t having enough of it. Although a Thai sociologist described the Japanese as, “thinking too much about business and not enough about their sexual desire,” readers with male Japanese friends knows that however much they may think about business, sex usually isn’t far from their minds. The problem is not thinking too much about business, and too little about sex, but spending too much time doing business instead of having sex.
* One can actually pay to rent a room cleverly designed to resemble the interior of a traincar, while a woman dressed to resemble the average office lady on her morning commute allows herself to be fondled and groped.
Of course, given the groping problem on crowded subway trains - prompting the designation of "women only" cars during rush hours - the commodification of semi-legal groping in the aforementioned context raises an interesting question that paralells some of the common debates surronding prostitution. If the groping occurs in a semi-regulated environment and is between two consensual adults, does this actually provide the service to society by keeping these men from getting thier jollies at the expense of innocent women on public transportation? Or does it only encourage such behavior in addition to futher objectifying Japanese women?
And if this topic strikes you as delicate, try this one about the reaction of South Korean female sex workers to their government's crackdown on red light businesses.
