Sexual Inactivity in Japan: A Scoping Review

The high rates of sexual inexperience and sexual inactivity reported from Japan have been subject to international attention. In this scoping review, we included 38 publications in English and Japanese (Jan 1st, 1974 to Sep 15th, 2024) comprising 43 surveys aimed at presenting population-based data on sexual inexperience, sexual inactivity and related variables, including indicators of sexual desire, interest in sexual relationships, sexual orientation and identities, sexual dysfunction and use of commercial sex worker services. Findings indicated that sexual inexperience had increased during the past decades such that around half of the Japanese population remained sexually inexperienced into their mid-twenties and approximately 10% of the individuals had no sexual experience when reaching their 30s, although most of the data pertained to heterosexual inexperience. The prevalence of sexual inactivity was high and had increased during the past decades, but these findings relied on less reliable data. While measures of sexual desire varied depending on definition and survey, a large proportion of the population reported that they had no interest in sexual relationships. Based on the reviewed data, several hypotheses regarding sexual inactivity in Japan and avenues for further research are suggested.