Are Japanese Men "Afraid To Get It Dirty"?

Above, aren't Japanese girls interesting to Japanese males?  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For the past several days, I have been seeing stories on how the Japanese government is very concerned over the lack of interest young Japanese males have for sex. Until now, I have been ignoring it.

They are concerned because the population of Japan is aging and not enough babies are being born to maintain current population levels.

According to an article from The Tokyo Times:

If more babies will not be born in Japan, the country’s population will go down by a third by 2060. One of the reasons for the country’s low birthrate could be a new breed of Japanese men – the otaku, who love manga, anime and computers more than sex. 

Kunio Kitamara, of the Japan Family Planning Association, describes many young Japanese men as “herbivores” – passive and lacking carnal desire. 

A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2010 found 36 percent of Japanese males aged 16 to 19 had no interest in sex – a figure that had doubled in the space of two years. 

Another reason for Japan’s low birthrate is that even if men and women are involved in relationships, they rarely have sex, according to several surveys. One of the surveys showed that only 27 percent of the couples said they had sex every week.

It is weird to read that Japanese males are so disinterested in sex and prefer "virtual girlfriends" (read the full article) over real flesh and blood females. In a way, I can understand how a married man could be so tired and stressed from work that he isn't interested in indulging with wifey. But younger Japanese males more interested in manga, anime and computers?! Are they that afraid to get it dirty?

There must be a lot of frustrated Japanese women "just ripe for the pickin'!" (Then again, are there any figures on Japanese women's interest in sex? Is it all one-sided?)

To read the full article, go here.