More Japanese cutting out the middleman with dating sims and sex toys

[The Straight Story]

More Japanese cutting out the middleman with dating sims and sex toys

"Sex is just way too much trouble," a 35-year-old man tells Shukan Asahi (3/7), confessing that ever since he used a masturbation aid at age 19 he's never wanted to be with a woman again. "As long as I have a sex toy available, I don't need women. I can't come when I have sex, and you've got to put a lot of emotion into dealing with women. Self-pleasure is a hell of lot less demanding than trying to please somebody else."

Young Japanese are becoming mixed up about sex. Just a few years ago, people worried that the young were developing a practical enjoyment of sex at too early an age, now they're getting steamed up because growing numbers of youths are showing little or no interest in the subject.


....

Perhaps that has inspired the massive popularity of "otome" games, role-playing dating simulation games for women where the object is to win the heart of the computer-generated man they desire. Otome games occupied seven of the top 20 best-selling computer software game titles in Japan last year.

"Otome games are more than enough when it comes to love," one 21-year-old woman says. "I've already decided I'm never going to have sex in my life. I do like watching dirty stuff, though. I've studied adult movies and erotica, so I know about the kind of sex that pleases guys."

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20080304p2g00m0dm005000c.html

Uhhhhh....yeah.

[DainBramaged]

1. Lots of us live without sex

:cry: :cry:

[Speck Tater]

5. Celibate for 12 years and no regrets. NT

[TahitiNut]

13. Yup. I regard it as a hobby ... as my DU profile has indicated since day one.

:dunce:

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Unbelieveable............

[ThomWV]

3. Its why people fly fish, every now and then you need a wild trout

[nebula]

4. This is probably a good attitude to have

Abstinence should be practiced more often in places like Japan
where overcrowding is a serious problem.

[lostnfound]

8. Actually their population is dropping and they are worried about it.

The demographics apparently cause concern.

[Art_from_Ark]

19. Considering that Japan has 4 times the population of California

living in essentially the same space, crowding can be a problem. But the population is aging, and families are getting smaller. Of course, with the cost of raising one child to adulthood (20 years old) estimated at far more than $100,000 (not including college tuition), and the vast majority of the population living in areas where space is at a premium, it is not surprising that the population is expected to decline.

[Mojorabbit]

6. I think it is sad

there is a lot to be said for intimacy with a live caring human being but whatever floats people's boats is ok by me.

[Godhumor]

7. Take any thing posted in waiwai with a HUGE grain of salt

They tend to not be all that accurate or even real.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. Waiwai does tend to focus on the sensational

but there is also a bit of truth to some of this.

For example, Japanese almost never date in high school, and even in college, it seems like a considerable number of women still haven't progressed beyond the "Ewwwww, boys" stage of elementary school.

It's not unusual to meet 20-something women who have never had a boyfriend, and aren't even thinking of dating.

The big thing for Valentine's Day this year was girls/women giving Valentines chocolates to other girls/women. (Traditionally, females have given chocolates to males on Valentines Day. Males are supposed to reciprocate on "White Day", March 14).

If a 20-something male wants sex in Japan, he'll probably have to pay for it (and he can choose from all sorts of escort services/"health" clubs/bathhouses or pick out a love hotel ang arrange through a "fuzoku" company for a girl to meet him there). It's also not unusual to see provocatively dressed women in the evening/nigt trains busily checking their cell phones to see who and where their next customer is.

[Godhumor]

12. I lived there, worked there, and my wife is from there

Mixed sex high schools tend to have a lot of relationships, collage age kids are the primary users of love hotels, and guys and girls do date and date relatively frequently in their early 20s.

The image of the society as celibate is not a true one.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. I live in Japan

and have for a very large part of my life. I even spent a few years at a Japanese university.

Through my studies, and later my work, I have met many 20-somethings, and their parents. It is amazing how many women in their mid- to late-20s are still living at home. I know at least two 25-year-old women who are still living at home and have a curfew-- of 10:00! I know of a 30-something lady living with parents who has no interest in men at all. Her sister is married, but never dated-- she relied on a matchmaker to find her mate.

AS for high school, there is a fair amount of dating in the vo-tech-like high schools, but it drops off considerably as the academic level increases. I even know of private high schools where they actually forbid students from dating.

Go to the movie theater and you'll see high school girls with high school girls, high school boys with high school boys, with very few high school age couples or even mixed groups.

And the main users of love hotels are NOT college kids in love-- unless you are counting the primarily college-age girls who are often escorts of the older men. Go to the hotel district of Ikebukuro, or Nishi Nippori, for example, and you'll see what I mean.

[jmowreader]

16. White Day? We have...well, another name for it...

http://www.steakandbjday.com/ :evilgrin:

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Now talk of fodder for some near future cybertech fiction

oooh boy

[Robeson]

11. People will be having sex and marriage this century, .....

...with robots, according to David Levy...

Excerpt:

Levy speculates that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them within the century...

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/scientist-claims-sex-and-marriage-with-robots-this-century/weird-science

[Indenturedebtor]

14. So you're telling me I might finally get that threesome?

Woooohooooooo :bounce:

:P

I don't believe that this is a serious problem. We have plenty of people like that here as well, but to think that this will somehow become a massive cultural factor is silly imo. People like to do it. :shrug:

[Marr]

15. Those games have been around for years-- and have been popular in Japan

for quite a while, if I'm not mistaken. First one I heard about was in... I think it was around '88 or so. But they're mostly designed for males as far as I know-- I'm surprised and, frankly, pleased to hear the same is available for women now.

I played one of those things once and found it to be absolute dreck. Not profane, just a bad excuse for a game. Anyway, here's to gender equality in gaming.

[jmondine]

18. Hey, let's suggest this strategy to the "celibacy only" fundamentalists in this country

I'm sure they'll all be lining up to get their teenage kids sex toys and dating videogames... or not?