However, Jonathan is only half right. The Japanese have less sex IN MARRIAGE because of their architecture and family structure. When you live in a house with very thin walls, your grandparents in the other room, and your children in bed with you, sex just isn’t an option. I know this because my girlfriend sleeps in the same room with her children and mother.

However, Japan gets around this in a lot of ways. The first, and simplest, is that it’s pretty much ok for people to cheat on their spouses here. Again, I know this because I slept with a married woman here for a while. Another adaptation is the love hotel – a luxury hotel with hourly rates for “resting.”

The Japanese are shockingly open and honest about sex, in reality. I just had a conversation with some old and middle-aged people about how my girlfriend planned on spending the night at my place soon – without missing a beat, they ask, “What if you get her pregnant?!” – without bothering to lower their voices or act shy about it at all.

Girlfriend coming over = fucking, and no one is shy about saying it – especially the old folks.

This kind of thing is pretty common around the world – especially in the Pacific.

For everyone who’s freaking out, you forget that the casual flirting that we’re used to is a very, very new thing in terms of human culture. In a world where men and women aren’t allowed to be seen in public together, this kind of secrecy is the natural way to deal with it.

Natural?

Yes. Natural. It’s not rape because, half the time, the woman would be in on it, or would have given hints as to her intentions. It might have often become rape, but women are just as horny as men; it’s entirely certain that women initiated these encounters just as often as the men – especially in the countryside where there’s nothing else to do and marriage, sex and childbirth are extremely straightforward and businesslike things in life.

If you think I’m full of it, just look at any poor white trash community in the States, or a bogan community in Australia. What do teenagers do? They go off in cars and fuck in the woods, get pregnant, and have a shotgun wedding. It’s the same exact thing, just following a different pattern.

Honestly, people – culture isn’t that complicated or mysterious.

“Oh no! Two conseting people engaged in a mutually enjoyable activity. That shits just fucked up! And *gasp,* egad. A young man seeking to bring pleasure and excitement into the life of the woman he loves as a prelude to marriage? Japan. Equals. The devil.”

As a society we NEED to get over the hangup about sex. Both wanting it and not wanting it.

PS: To Jonathan, your point is valid but, as a sidenote, I wonder how they gather those statistics? That would be just about the most awkward survey anyone ever took.