What's happened
A recent survey by the Japan Association for Sex Education reveals that only 22.8% of high school boys and 27.5% of girls aged 15-18 have had their first kiss, marking the lowest rates since 1974. This trend reflects a broader disengagement from physical intimacy, potentially impacting Japan's declining birth rate.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to The Independent, the Japan Association for Sex Education's survey indicates a significant decline in youth sexual activity, with only 22.8% of boys and 27.5% of girls having kissed. The Guardian echoes this sentiment, noting that these figures represent a drop of over 10 percentage points since 2017. Yusuke Hayashi, a sociology professor, attributes this trend to the pandemic's impact on social interactions, stating, 'Limited contact with others during the coronavirus outbreak may have lowered the rate of sexual activity.' Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post highlights the broader implications of such trends, suggesting that a lack of comprehensive sex education may contribute to these declines. The overall consensus among experts is that these changes could have lasting effects on Japan's demographic challenges.
How we got here
The survey, conducted between August 2023 and March 2024, involved over 12,500 students and highlighted a significant drop in youth sexual activity since 2017. The Covid-19 pandemic is cited as a key factor in this decline.
More on these topics
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The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
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Japan is an island country of East Asia in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It borders the Sea of Japan to the west and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.