A survey has found that 46% of unmarried Japanese men in their twenties have never dated a member of the opposite sex.
The figure is a record high, representing a significant increase from 34.2% in the last survey two years ago.
The survey by Recruit Bridal Research Institute found a slight drop in the numbers of men in their forties who have never dated (down from 27.1% to 22.9%), but a rise in the numbers of men in their thirties (up from 35.4% to 41.2%).
Just 26.7% of men in their twenties said they currently had a partner.
On average, 43.5% of men said they wanted to get married in the future, down from 47.1% last time. Of the men who said they didn’t want to marry, the most common reason they gave was because marriage would make things difficult for them financially.
Among women, 29.8% of unmarried women in their twenties said they had never dated a man, which was a slight increase from the previous survey’s 24.3%. There was a similar trend among the results for women in their thirties (25.3%, up from 23%) and forties (26.5%, up from 19.9%).
On average, 49.3% of women said they wanted to marry (down from 59.7% last time). But unlike the guys, the women’s reasons were mostly related to the impact marriage would have on what they could do in life.
The survey was carried out online in early September with 1,200 unmarried men and women aged between 20 and 49.
Could we be witnessing the long-term impact of the pandemic? Or is it all due to Japan’s stagnant economy, where wages remain low while prices slowly and incrementally increase?
On the other hand, the survey only collected results regarding straight relationships. It specifies “dating the opposite sex,” suggesting that gay people were not served well by the available responses. But we guess a research institute linked to wedding services is unlikely to be interested in same-sex couples, who are not able to marry legally in Japan.
