Middle-aged men in Japan are having a hard time finding love and having sex.
A survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research showed that a quarter of Japanese men 30 years old and above remain unmarried virgins, according to Japan Times.
Part of the problem is Japanese men struggle to find good-paying, full-time jobs. "Many men seem to have lost confidence as they've lost their economic muscle," matchmaking expert Yoko Itamoto told Japan Times. "In the past two decades, the situation for Japanese men has been very tough and competitive."
Some men stopped pursuing relationships with women because they fear rejection. The pain and shame that goes with it was described as "devastating" by a 49-year-old unnamed architect. "It seemed to invalidate my life and take away my reason to live," he said about about previous encounters with women.
Japanese men who have not been married nor had any sexual partners, like the architect, are called "yaramiso." Their situation is so prevalent, special classes designed to help these men get laid have been popping up in Japan. The problem among the "yaramiso" may also be a big factor in Japan's declining birth rate.
Shingo Sakatsume runs a nonprofit group that helps people with disabilities fulfill their sexual needs. He thought he could do the same for these virgins and established Virgin Academia. "In today's Japan, we have no place to learn about sex or how to form a romantic relationship," said Sakatsume.
The Virgin Academia program originally involved a controversial lesson, as the men were taught about sexual intercourse. This led to many protests online, and the police was forced to shut it down, according to Inquistr.
The program as a whole still exists, however, and now offers a drawing class where men are asked to sketch and understand how the female body works.
Forty-one-year-old Takashi Sakai, one of the students who benefitted from Sakatsume's program, described the experience as enlightening. "One thing I learned is that there are many different shapes of breasts and even genitals," said Sakai. "There is no need to be so pessimistic. After all, being a virgin isn't fatal."
