…..in a porn drenched country like Japan?

Yep, and I think porn is part of the problem.

As is my want; sometimes you have to go back to the classics:

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger
Everyone
-The Vapors, Turning Japanese, 1979.

There are a lot of reasons for the demographic problems we find in the West (slightly reviewed here, here, and here), and it seems that in Japan (the Asian sub-group of the West) part of the problem is a combination of a profound misunderstanding of a well rounded marriage, poor priorities, and a porn and prostitution drenched culture that is coming off its tracks.

In 2003 Japan's birthrate hit a record low of 1.29 - the average number of times a woman gives birth during her lifetime - one of the lowest rates in the world, according to the cabinet office. The population will peak next year at about 128 million, then decline to just over 100 million by 2050.

You cannot create the next generation if you are not doing the activity that makes it possible.

Like many Japanese women, Junko waited until her early 30s to get married. When she and her fiance, an employee of a well-known firm, decided to tie the knot, she set her sights on making a home, putting away some money and starting a family.

Fifteen years later, Junko and her husband are childless. It is not that they cannot have children; it is just that they have never had sex.

….and some people get mad when you leave the seat up….

The 200 women a year who seek help at a clinic in the Tokyo suburbs have not had sex with their husbands in up to 20 years, and some never, according to Kim Myong-gan, who runs the clinic.

"The women who come to see me love their husbands and aren't looking for a divorce," he told the Guardian. "The problem is that their husbands lose interest in sex or don't want sex from the start. Many men think of their wives as substitute mothers, not as women with emotional and sexual needs."

Mr Kim's short-term solution is unconventional. After an initial 20,000 yen (£100) counselling session, he produces photographs of 45 men, mostly professionals in their 40s, with whom the women are invited to go on dates and then, in almost all cases, arrange regular assignations in hotel rooms.

Mr Kim dismissed charges that his service was little more than a male prostitution ring. "The men volunteer and pay half the hotel and restaurant bills, so legally there is absolutely nothing wrong with it," he said.

Perhaps Japanese women need to be a bit more aggressive. I have had a couple of coworkers with Japanese wives, and they become quite “native” real fast. Great women all, and not pushovers and mommy substitutes. Perhaps with their personality they wanted an American man. I know one guy’s mother-in-law that apologizes that her daughter does not “treat him properly” (usually said while he is cleaning the dishes or has a wrinkled shirt); his wife gives sigh and an eye roll and life goes on.

The number of married couples is in rapid decline. In 2000 almost 70% of men and 54% of women between 25 and 29 were unmarried. That bodes ill for the birthrate, as conservative Japanese society frowns upon having children outside marriage.

A survey of 600 women found that 26% had not had sex with their husbands in the past year.

Wow. Just wow. I’m a big fan of marriage (13+ years with #1 thank you), but there is a major malfunction going on in Japan, if those stats are correct.

The divorce rate has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, with more women blaming their sexually inactive, as opposed to sexually errant, husbands for break-ups.

"The men love their companies; they live for work," Mr Kim said. "Men don't even think it is a problem if they don't have sex with their wives. They have pornography and the sex industry to take care of their needs, but their wives have nowhere to go. They just suffer in silence."

I could make lots of jokes like “Mama-san, I can get the 7th Fleet port call schedule for you..” but this is just too sad of a story to make fun of. You really have to feel sorry for these ladies, and to a lesser extent these men who have created this self-inflicted cancer on their life. You only get one shot at this, to expend your life with porn and prostitutes to the point the woman that married you has to go to a service to meet someone who will give them some attention, is just waste. Maybe Skippy can give us an onsta report. This story is just sad.

Hat tip Fjordman.