“73% of Young Men Face Sexless Christmas”

Statistics suggest the majority of Japanese men in their twenties no longer have any expectation of spending a romantic Christmas Eve having sex with their girlfriend, as has historically been the Japanese custom.

The survey on attitudes to Christmas, based on a sample of unmarried Japanese men and women in their twenties, reaffirmed two significant facts – that, bizarrely, the Japanese Christmas lacks the traditional Christmas spirit of high retail sales, having instead become a dating event in which couples get together for sleazy love hotel sex, and that young Japanese men in particular are now apparently doomed to sexlessness.

Asked whether they had a partner, 64.6% in total said they did not – 72.6% for men, but only 56.7% for women. Whether women are dating older and wealthier men, or younger men are simply totally lacking in drive, libido or money, is still the subject of much speculation.

Over 40% of those without partners reported that they intended to spend Christmas with family, and nearly 20% anticipated a lonely Christmas at home on their own.

As to where in fact they would be spending their Christmas if they did have a lover, some 21.5% expected to stay at home, whilst 23.2% expected to spend it at their partner’s home. A further 21.5% intended to go to a restaurant, and 11.3% to an illumination show.

The other major difference the statistics revealed was with respect to Christmas presents (meaning gifts for lovers rather than mere family) – men on average expected to spend significantly more on presents than women, to the tune of ¥20,514 for men and a miserly ¥12,935 for women.

28.2% intended this gift to be compromised of “accessories,” 11.7% clothing, 11.7% wallets or purses and 11% bags, making the majority of gifts fashion-related.

However, a thoughtful 4.3% did consider games an appropriate gift, along with similarly small proportions for perfume, flowers, make-up, watches, interior goods, home electronics, and travel.

A cheeky 12.9% seemed not to have grasped the true meaning of Christmas, responding that they would only be giving a worthless gift of “love” to their paramour.