Kiss chaste: number of high school boys in Japan who have had first kiss falls to 1970s levels

Polls showing downward trend in kissing indicates a move away from ‘real physical sexual activity’ that could affect country’s birthrate, experts say

Just one in five of boys at senior high school in Japan have had their first kiss, according to the Japanese Association for Sex Education – the lowest figure since the organisation conducted its first survey of sexual behaviour among young people in 1974.

In its latest poll, which covers the 2023 academic year, the association found that girls in the same age group were similarly cautious, with 27.5% saying they had experienced their first kiss, compared with 22.8% among boys – down 13.6 percentage points and 11.1 points since 2017.