# Is the US going to be like Japan? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181 "2015-07-25T20:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/1 "2015-07-25T20:26:39Z")
Is the US going to be like Japan? Where 25% of the population in the 30’s are virgins? I read a news articles this weak that 25% of population in 30’s are virgins!! Japan like Europe are lucky to have one kid!! The US is lucky to have one or two kids!! There is also decline in the US too!! Well sociologist and psychologist struggle to explain what drives people low sex drive or high sex drive. But the theory is friends, family and culture shapes a person sex drive more so than media. The plug in culture is other theory. Before people did not have TV,computer, books and materialistic things. When you done work you spent time with friends, family and your lover. Not a plug in materialistic things locked up in your room by your self. Same reason people where not fat before and slim and could walk 5 or 10 miles in day!! Now people are lucky if they can walk one mile in a day!!! People gone out before and now people are locked up in the house. Other theory is dopamine some people may have low dopamine and people who have low dopamine may have more addictive personality when comes to sex, drugs, alcohol, porn so on. Other people could have higher dopamine and less addictive personality. Japan like the US are plug in culture very materialistic. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/2 "2015-07-25T20:52:01Z")
We can’t all be handsome gorillas. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/3 "2015-07-25T22:37:40Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Is the US going to be like Japan? > > Where 25% of the population in the 30’s are virgins? Not if I have anything to do with it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/4 "2015-07-25T22:41:51Z")
> [@picker](#): > > We can’t all be handsome gorillas. I see what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/5 "2015-07-25T23:43:08Z")
Og forfend that 25% of the population (and growing!) should be handsome gorillas. Can you imagine all their threads here? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/6 "2015-07-25T23:45:44Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I see what you did there. 😃 I almost missed it. That story kind of reminded me of Brother Sharp for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/7 "2015-07-26T00:43:54Z")
^ I’m sure there some people here taking sociology or psychology in school that could explain this better. > [@picker](#): > > We can’t all be handsome gorillas. sorry my English is not that good can you explain what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/8 "2015-07-26T01:35:10Z")
East Asia has a much lower fertility rate than most other developed nations, I’m not sure why. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/9 "2015-07-26T01:38:03Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > ^ > > I’m sure there some people here taking sociology or psychology in school that could explain this better. > > sorry my English is not that good can you explain what you mean. In Japan there was a Gorilla that Japanese women were going crazy for - and zoo attendance rose sharply; and at one time a poster on here had the name Handsome Gorilla - the comment could be taken on different levels. Brother Sharp is/was a homeless man in China who became a minor celebrity and landed a modeling contract after pictures of him (while homeless and looking the part) went viral on the internet. I may have the details slightly wrong, but that’s the general gist of things; for 100% accuracy you’d have to look these things up. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/10 "2015-07-26T01:39:59Z")
Just a joke, doesn’t mean anything. Just be yourself. Join a club. As long as you’re not hideous, you’ll get lucky. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/11 "2015-07-26T01:43:56Z")
If you think men have low sex drives and aren’t still trying to get laid you haven’t been paying attention. We have had at least two threads I remember about the video of a girl simply walking down the street in NYC and being more or less sexually harassed. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/12 "2015-07-26T02:03:33Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > ^ > > I’m sure there some people here taking sociology or psychology in school that could explain this better. > > sorry my English is not that good can you explain what you mean. No soap. Radio. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/13 "2015-07-26T02:10:35Z")
Let’s get the numbers straight. The fertility rate for Japan is 1.41 children per woman, which is not “lucky to have one child.” The fertility rate for the U.K. is 1.88, for France is 1.98, and for Germany is 1.42 (children per women). So it’s not true that Europeans are “lucky to have one child” either. The fertility rate for the U.S. is 1.97. So all of these countries have, on average, definitely more than one child per woman, and some of them are close to the replacement rate. I used the first column in the following Wikipedia entry: > **[List of sovereign states and dependencies by total fertility rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_fertility_rate)** > > This is a list of all sovereign states and dependencies by total fertility rate (TFR): the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years. > The first lists show the most recent year where there is published total fertility rate (TFR) data ranked by sovereign states and dependencies, and are ordered by organization type - Intergovernmental, Governmental or Non-governmental organization that searched, organized and published the data. > Country ranking by most recent years l... This article says that “one in four Japanese men in their thirties who’ve never been married are virgins.” Note: “men” and “who’ve never been married”. That isn’t the proportion of all men in their thirties, and it isn’t the proportion of everyone in their thirties: > **[Middle-aged virgins: Why so many Japanese stay chaste | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/asia/japan-middle-aged-virgins/)** > > A nude sketching class aims to help Japan's middle-aged virgins by allowing them to spend time with a real female body. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/14 "2015-07-26T03:15:11Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Same reason people where not fat before and slim and could walk 5 or 10 miles in day!! Now people are lucky if they can walk one mile in a day!!! People gone out before and now people are locked up in the house. Japan actually has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/15 "2015-07-26T05:40:32Z")
The US is WAY more diverse than japan where basically everyones Japanese. So maybe in a few areas where geeky white males would rather look at internet porn than actually go out and date but in reality most american men get themselves out there quite nicely. Cant have all those ladies spending friday night alone. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/16 "2015-07-26T05:48:27Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No soap. Radio. Okay, that’s funny! ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/17 "2015-07-26T07:53:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No soap. Radio. No taupe. Beef Jerky. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/18 "2015-07-26T16:55:08Z")
Considering that there are 7 Billion+ people on this planet. I see this as a good thing. Not the virgin part, the fewer babies part. Perhaps it’s evolution in action. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/19 "2015-07-26T17:11:21Z")
Don’t get your hopes up too much. As you can see in the Wikipedia entry that I linked to, the average number of children that each woman in the world has today is 2.5. It’s going to be awhile yet before the population of the world quits rising, let alone before it starts goes down. Incidentally, I can find a lot of articles that quote the “25% of all unmarried Japanese men in their thirties are virgins” statistics, but I can’t find the original survey itself. Does the survey actually exist? Consider the possibility that it was simply made up. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181/20 "2015-07-26T17:37:12Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Considering that there are 7 Billion+ people on this planet. I see this as a good thing. > > Not the virgin part, the fewer babies part. When you own a big chunk of the bloody third world, the babies just come with the scenery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-going-to-be-like-japan/726181.md?page=2)