Nearly half of Japan¡¯s 20-year-olds have never been in a romantic relationship and 1 in 5 has never fallen in love, a survey by a marriage counseling firm says.
The annual survey, conducted by O-net for the past 20 years, covered 600 fledgling adults slated to attend the annual coming-of-age ceremony next Monday. All were single.
The results, released Monday, found that 47.8 percent of the new adults had never dated a member of the opposite sex, compared with 43.3 percent in 2009, when O-net began asking the question, while 19.0 percent said they had never fallen in love.
Asked if they were in a romantic relationship, 74.3 percent said no, with a record-low 62.6 percent of that group saying they were looking for a partner. The latter number contrasted sharply with the 90 percent logged in 2000.
The results testify to the lack of romantic interest that appears to be plaguing today¡¯s youths, O-net concluded.
This apathy holds true not only for men, as the popular phrase ¡°soshokukei danshi¡± (herbivorous men) suggests, but also women, it said, pointing out that 60.4 percent of single women said they fancy getting into a relationship, compared with 64.6 percent of men.
The young people who confessed to preferring to remain unmarried accounted for a record-high 23.5 percent, tying the level in 2004.
On a different topic, the survey also found that a record 83.7 percent of the pollees professed their ¡°love of Japan,¡± compared with 67.1 percent in 2007.
On a related note, 70 percent said they are both ¡°proud and fond of Japan¡¯s history,¡± up 9 percent from 2007.
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