TOKYO -- Only around one fifth of boys in high school have experienced their first kiss, the lowest figure so far in a national survey on youth sexuality conducted by the Japan Association for Sex Education (JASE) since 1974.

A specialist pointed out the likely effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the results of the latest survey for the 2023 academic year, noting, "The limited contact with others during the coronavirus outbreak may have lowered the rate of sexual activity among junior and senior high school students."

The results of the survey, carried out every six years by the Tokyo-based group, were announced in the capital on Nov. 3. A questionnaire was given out between August 2023 and March 2024, garnering a total of 12,562 valid responses from 4,621 students in junior high school, 4,321 who were in high school and 3,614 in university.

The proportion of youths who have experienced a kiss has been in decline since peaking in 2005, and this survey was no exception, showing a lower percentage than in the last survey in fiscal 2017 in all demographics. The figure fell especially far for high school students, down 11.1 percentage points to 22.8% for boys and down 13.6 points to 27.5% for girls. This was lowest figure yet for high school boys, below the 23.1% in fiscal 1987.

Furthermore, the ratio of those who've had sexual intercourse fell by 3.5 points to 12% among high school boys and by 5.3 points to 14.8% among high school girls. The rate of dating experience also fell among both genders in junior and senior high school. In contrast, the rate of having tried masturbation is increasing among all demographics, hitting new records for junior high school girls and high school students in general.

Yusuke Hayashi, professor of quantitative sociology at Musashi University in charge of analyzing the survey results, said of the declining rates of kissing and sexual experience, "The combination of school closures and restrictions on face-to-face contact due to the coronavirus pandemic at a sensitive time when junior and senior high school students are beginning to become interested in sexuality is believed to have had an impact." Regarding the rise in self-pleasuring experience, Hayashi analyzed that, "Since it is observed regardless of the presence or absence of sexual partners, this may be due to increased exposure to sexual expressions in manga and other media, rather than as a substitute for interpersonal sexual behavior."

The announcement also detailed the results of research on topics such as the spread of sex education and sexual consent at home and in classrooms, and damage caused by sextortion and dating violence.

(Japanese original by Sahomi Nishimoto, Tokyo City News Department)