Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pacher, Alice
• Verma, Manish K.

Titel

Working environment and childbirth: An exploration of sexual inactivity in contemporary Japan

Ist Teil von

• Environment and Sustainable Development, 2022, p.319-337

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Couples in Japan who do not desire any sexual intercourse with their spouses increased especially since the 2000s. In 2016, the sexless rate among married couples in Japan rose to 47.2%. This trend correlates to the rise of work pressure and to the rise of the age at marriage and childbearing. Despite this worrying trend which affects various Sustainable Development Goals (such as the goals of well-being, gender equality and decent work), academic research focusing on the social environment and causes of sexlessness is still lacking in Japan. The chapter emphasizes two of the most publicly discussed reasons for this syndrome, namely, tiredness from work and a lack of sexual desire post-childbirth, with a focus on semi-structured interviews that the author conducted from 2012 to 2018. It demonstrates that not only 'exhaustion from work' but also one's priority attachment to work and the feeling of fulfilment in the working environment are aspects which lead to a complete lack of sexual desire, especially towards the partner. Furthermore, the quality time that is spent with partners is limited, and some interviewees get used to not having any sexual intimacy with the partner. With regard to sexlessness post-childbirth, the research observes multi-causal trends that erode the sexual desire for the partner. Sex is perceived as something that has a strong value in the reproductive process rather than providing pleasure and intimacy. Sudden pressure from a partner for sex that would lead to childbearing and the subsequent traumatic experience during childbirth are factors emphasized in the results of these interviews. This is especially true for men, as tiredness after work and the pressure to have sex for reproduction can increase the avoidance of sex with a partner. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on good health and well-being, among others, the finding suggests investigating more about the effect of the Japanese social environment on sexual relationship. This chapter assesses the effect of the Japanese social environment on sexual behaviour among men and women. Given the lack of existing research on sexual behaviour and sexual consciousness in Japan, it focuses on narrative voices, enabling an understanding of how contemporary Japanese couples relate to sexual intimacy and value it within their couple relationship. Since the 1990s, the topic of sexless couples has gained attention, especially in Japanese fashion magazines and journalistic reports, which have specifically been observed to have increased from 1996 to 2010. Although the rate of sexlessness among couples has been steadily increasing, there is a lack of academic research on this phenomenon. To understand how the phenomenon of sexlessness is caused by contemporary Japan's social environment, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Tokyo between 2012 and 2018. In the interviews, men in their thirties in married relationships predominately mentioned that they were in a sexless relationship due to being tired from work.