Japan's Declining Birth Rate?

Question

Why is Japan's birth rate declining? I read this in my monthly "Chatelaine" magazine.

"Forty percent of 16-49 year olds haven't had sex in the past month (Could that explain the country's declining birth rate?)"

So if I wanted to marry a Japanese man and live in Japan, would that mean that I would have a "once-a-month sex life" or less?

Answer 1

1. Unlike China, there is no such thing as "one child policy" in Japan. On the contrary, the government is encouraging the nation to have more children.

2. The major reason for less number of children in Japan every year is the high cost of living and education. Majority of ordinary workers cannot afford to have more than one (or two) child realistically.

3. Educated people know that Japan is way over populated in their small country (24 times smaller than the U.S.) without any natural resources (this is one of the reasons for Japan's imperialism to Asian countries during the WWII). There is a tacit understanding among the Japanese that less population will bring higher standard of living with less competition in their society.

4. Talking about sex life among Japanese couples, you are right. They tend to lose sexual appeal to each other once they are married as other people mentioned above. But if you stay attractive enough, your (future Japanese) husband will never leave you alone.

Answer 2

I saw a whole documentary on it actually; it was very interesting. It has to do with a few things. First, the old ways of arranged marriages are not as popular as they used to be. The new generations seem determined to marry for love. However, these poor kids come from a repressed environment and have absolutely NO idea how to go about dating and meeting people. It makes it hard to get married and have kids if you can't even figure out how to get a date. Another factor is that there aren't enough women to go around. The Japanese do favor their boys, and although they weren't/aren't supposed to do it, gender based abortions occur. This has left many more men than women, so there are a lot of bachelors running around Japan trying to find wives. they actually have a good campaign going now trying to convince the public to "cherish their daughters." Luckily, female birth rates are on the rise. Another reason has to do with cost of living. Most couples in cities live in cramped apartments that cost a LOT of money. Also, paying for a child's education over there is expensive (I don't think they have a public school system like us, I may be wrong though). If couples decided to have a child, it usually remains an only child.

That's pretty much all I can remember. Hope that helps answer your question.

Answer 3

Maybe, or maybe the Japanese don't talk about it especially not with foreign researchers!

I think the reason that the birth rate in Japan is on the decline is the same reason that the birth rate in most developed countries is on the decline. As people get richer, more educated and more technology is introduced we realize a few things. One, that the world is on the verge of over population, this is probably more obvious in Japan since Japan is a nation with high population density. It is irresponsible and selfish to have more than one child per family. Second, birth control, with education comes knowledge on how to prevent unwanted children. Third, technology, in Japan more and more jobs are being replaced with technology and unemployment rates are high, for this reason, having children is again irresponsible.

By the way, it's not Japan that has the one child policy. It's China! And no, not most of them are boys. In fact, China has banned abortions based on sex.

Answer 4

Japan has a handle on the biggest single problem in the world: the population. There are WAY to many of us. They are into sex like everyone else, but they are smart enough to know that you don't have to have 9 kids to prove you're a woman (or a man.)

Answer 5

dont mind their declining BIRTH-rate,still too many people here but seriously are you sure to marry a Japanese....when they are outside their country they are fine but when you will be living in JAPAN they CHANGE...really.They cant respect their women and kids and you will never ever fully respected and always will be looked at as a gaijin....I KNOW I have a half-japanese child and been living here for more than 16 years......I can tell you many many stories........PLEASE think about a possible marriage,ok .Why its declining Japanese guys wont be there for their wives,they probably too tired,too drunk or just never there.... to make a baby and many ***. women marry foreigners and get the hell outa here.....Its not a perfect country you know

Answer 6

One of the biggest reasons is the hectic work schedule - traffic is HORRENDOUS, so it takes hours to get to work/school. After working an 8-10 hour shift, and then being in traffic for 2-4 hours each way - does NOT leave a lot of extra hours in the day for anything other than EATING and SLEEPING...

Add to this the practice of working/studying SIX days of the week, and you can see how things like Cleaning, Laundry, and Shopping have to be done on the SAME day.

If you only get a small amount of spare time, the odds that you will spend it having sex are quite low indeed...

Answer 7

I have not seen that documentary.....one thing i can tell you can really totally depend upon these survey....at times people lie on survey.....at times survey is performed only on affected people.....just mere coincidence that you dont meet people who are not affected......

Sex is affected by so many things....at times your life is so fast that you dont have time for such things...generally seen in metropolitan cities....if you look at rural areas in any country ....sex is a form of Time-Pass.....a pleasure exercise...because they have alot of time.....so they get time to think about those other things in life

Answer 8

no it does not but with your wife i would ask those questions to her and find how she feels it is never right till you haev all these questions ironed out before one marries and this is normal whether here or there same deal

Answer 9

I think their limiting couples to 1 kid.

Answer 10

You are really strange.