Japanese teens not interested in sex

Little wonder the country's birth rate is plummeting -- though apparently it remains exciting when a cute shop clerk's hand accidentally touches yours while giving you change

By Robert Michael Poole 14 January, 2011

"How was your date last night?" "Yaaaawwn."

A survey conducted by O-net revealed further evidence of the growing prevalence of Japanese herbivorous men -- or soushokukei-danshi -- who are not only shy when it comes to seducing women, but have little or no interest in them.

According to the survey of 800 people who turned 20 years old this year, 83.7 percent of Japanese males said they were not dating anyone, while 49.3 percent said they had never had any girlfriends.

More surprising was the news that in a separate survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare published by the Japan Family Planning Association that 36.1 percent of Japanese males, aged 16 to 19, had no interest in sex whatsoever -- up from a 2008 record of 17.5 percent.

“A comparison of the 2008 and 2010 findings show that men indeed have become ‘herbivores,'" said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association, on NHK. "The findings seem to reflect the increasing shallowness of human relations in today’s busy society.”

So what's the difference between the guys who do have girlfriends and those who don’t?

Here are the best answers from lifestyle site POUCH, which listed the kinds of behaviors that don't rate on the seduction scale.

15 behavior traits of young Japanese men that turn off women:

1. Cutting in conversations to talk about himself.
2. Dressing up only in black clothes.
3. Letting his fingernails get dirty.
4. Trash talking women on blogs and social networks (indicating his misogynistic tendency).
5. Lacking confidence.
6. Letting his parents overprotect him.
7. Not knowing when to step forward and pass a couple flirting ahead of him on the street (indicating his inability to be decisive).
8. Hesitating to open a door if he sees his neighbor do the same (easily chickening out).
9. Going outside in his sweats (lacking fashion sense).
10. Being lackadaisical about anything except some weird stuff he’s really into.
11. Trying to caress a girl's head when he gets drunk.
12. Getting ecstatic when his hands are in contact with the hand of a cute shopping assistant who is just giving him change.
13. Thinking of himself as too handsome to be satisfied with his potential girlfriends.
14. Taking an extremely long trip by bicycle rather than using public transport.
15. Thinking of accidental eye contact with a girl as her romantic interest in him.