I'm not surprised. Seeing as it's a [social disability] caused by [addictive effect], it could even be termed as a 'disease'.

Perhaps they had ought to create more open parties, events etc. for anyone to join, and to make it so public and friendly, there's no excuse to bail out. Improve the social life for everyone, so they won't refer to become shut-ins and actually find someone irl.

...Or perhaps revert to the old good ways of Yamato-Damashii.

If all this stuff was keeping people from pursuing a relationship, why wouldn't it affect everyone on the planet, instead of just Japan?

All these things suposedly turning people into shut-ins are everywhere.

Does this also include women?

Vault101:

huh?

1. I thourght japan or like some japanise citys were suposed ot be some of the safest ever, even walking around at night

2. oh come one..where are you getting THAT evidence?

1. Yes, for the mere fact the rapes aren't reported because of shame and sending someone to their death isn't on everyones mind. Evilthecat wrote a rather long post on this a fair bit back.

2. You mean besides my Japanese friend? http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=366192 if you look at the statistics lower down.

I wonder, what about women not wanting boyfriends? Are they sick, too?

Also, wtf is waifu?

Fappy:
So what this piece is saying is... every single man should book a flight to Japan to bag some fine young thing (considering none of them apparently have boyfriends).

Alright, you talked me into it =P

Damn, I have a serious illness it turns out...SO what if "I dont want a girlfriend" mentality came from previous relationship that caused one a really bad heartbreak? Is that still a serious illness?

The_root_of_all_evil:
Does that mean bigamists are really healthy?

And, god forbid I bring this into it, but are girls to have any say in this?

not in Japan they dont ;)

in a world where overpopulation could and is already starting to happen I applaud our japanese brothers for decreasing the population by 20% without even resorting to violence *tips hat*

I would like to find a girlfriend, but as a recent college grad I rather find a job and settle my life down so I can take care of myself. If I can't manage my own life why would I want someone wasting theirs on mine, cause I sure as shit wouldn't do that for a girl.

Clive Howlitzer:
Does this mean being single is covered by my insurance?

No. They will argue that it is a pre-existing condition not covered by your plan.

Also: my cents.
I see the point being made - that having an uncomplicated alternative to dealing with another persons ego is tempting and overdoing it can be counter productive.

It depends on what the person wants. young people are often told to "get a job. for security." Maybe previous generations have overstated the importance of becoming financially independent over finding someone to team up with. In effect educating young people with an ethos of "bring the full package to the table, that will ensure success." What may happen is that many young people grow up dedicating more time to improving their academic credentials in order to become an attractive mate, but spend less time acquiring the one-on-one social skills they need to make a relationship.

Jerry Sadowitz had the solution to this problem over 10 years ago, it's down having an aging population living longer thru advances in medicine, along with less money around to support having a larger family.

In short:

"All old people should be shot at birth!"

Or, have the 'In Time' idea of everyone lives to a certain age, tho I'd set it around 50. Gives people time to have kids and bring them up to adulthood.

If you knew you died at 50, I imagine it'd be an extra incentive to try to achieve things.

tehweave:
"If you don't want a girlfriend, you're ill." (slightly paraphrased)

I am a 23 year old college student living at his parents house until graduation. I'm not in good shape, I barely make enough to pay off my bills, and I have enough friends to spend time with. I have no time for a relationship nor do I seriously think there is a girl out there who would want to be with me right now.

And I'm ill with that train of logic?

Color me ill. What pills can I take to relieve this illness, doctor?

Oh, there are no pills? You can't take medicine or antibiotics to help alleviate the illness?

THEN IT ISN'T AN ILLNESS.

Well, there's a little blue pill...

Joke.

I think the point is meant to be that some individuals with low confidence (or other problems that make it difficult to find a partner) may convince themselves that they don't actually want one as a way of avoiding dealing with the issue. This works in the short term, but there is a possible danger of becoming locked into this negative way of thinking.

Statistics indicate that people in long term relationships are generally happier than those who aren't. Although it's unclear whether this is due to relationships making people happier, or happy people making more attractive partners.

Whatever the reasoning, this whole suggestion is probably just another ploy by the Japanese government to combat their ageing population. So it's not really applicable to countries like the USA that don't have this problem.

The_root_of_all_evil:
Does that mean bigamists are really healthy?

Only by the same logic that malnutrition is bad for you, therefore obese people are really healthy. ;)

oneeyemug:
Does this mean Japan hates homosexuals as well?

Unfortunately, yes. Japan is actually very conservative when it comes to sexuality. The existence of material like Yaoi in Japan is no more an indicator of widespread acceptance of homosexuality than the existence of hard-core pornography in the USA being an indicator that the average American likes to double-penetrate his wife.

fenrizz:

Boyninja616:
I don't have a girlfriend, but that's no big deal.

According to the Japanese, i'm ill.

According to American teenagers, i'm a nerd.

According to my friends, i'm a weird, shut-in w**ker.

Oh well. At least I have disposable income, a car, a property and free time.

Unlike many people of my age, I grew up. I understand that one needs to be a realist and needs to work towards building a stable and independent life, which dating would quite frankly ruin. I don't understand why girls feel the need to go out with some arse just "Because" and guys feel the need to wear Polo or Checkered shirts and stick their hair in spikes to attract females. It's stupid and fatuous.

I hate to break it to you, but that is not how you pick up girls.
And most girls don't go out with an, as you put it, "arse" just for the lulz.

Cheer up a little.
Why so serious?

When was the last time you were in Britain?

Actually, holidaying in popular destinations for British tourists was enough to formulate that opinion. I was literally the ONLY guy there not to fulfil some sort or archetype for the young British male (Stupid dress sense, spiky hair, crap attitude).

Also, the first sentence was "I don't have a girlfriend, but that's no big deal". I have no intention to pick up the shallow, vain, ditzy slags that grace my generation.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Cowabungaa:

s_h_a_d_o:

Ermm... you mean, equality?

... Derp.

It's late alright? Le fixed.

Well, there are certain lengths that Japanese men can't get to. Allegedly. Perhaps quality is the right word?

Indians, who seems to have smaller than average seems to be doing all right.

this is a GOOD THING. we are overpopulating. its about time we slow that down and stop ruining earth. then again, i guess you have to be pretty ill yourself to come up with something like this.

iLikeHippos:
Perhaps they had ought to create more open parties, events etc. for anyone to join, and to make it so public and friendly, there's no excuse to bail out.

Theres always the i would shoot you first before i would go with you to a "open party" people like me that would bail out anyway.

Thing is, this lowering birth rate and aging population isn't just Japan - it's considered a problem here in Australia too. Also, one of my Taiwanese friends told me it was a problem there as well. In fact, it seems to be a problem in most developed countries. It almosts seems as if the more educated people are and the more access they have to material wealth the less interested they become in raising children. . .

"If [one] begins thinking, 'I can't get a girlfriend, but that's not big deal,' that is a serious illness," he writes.

But that is how I think...

Lots of people here in Japan suffer from a disease called `having next to no money`. Having children is expensive in Japan. It is so expensive that I think that those who actually WANT children should have their head examined.

If the government wants people to have more babies, it should allow health insurance to be used in pre-natal checks and childbirth. Currently, pregnancy is not covered by health insurance because it is "not a disease".

I am sure that there are many happy men out there bursting to the seams with virility, but just cannot afford to have a family/girlfriend. With all the medical checks and having to buy a house/rent a bigger place you are virtually put into a slave debt/debt slavery to pay for all those mouths you have to feed in your new family (yay, I love working for the bank).

The whole "cartoons makes people sick" is just a cover for the effects of a 20 year recession which has limited both salaries and prospects.

He he,it just leaves more hot Japanese toddy for Japan's foreigner community ;)

Imp Emissary:
If smog was the problem then how do you explain China's overpopulation problem?

China is mostly rural countryside.

Japan's problem is most of it's population is concentrated into the cities on the coast, China has millions upon millions of small towns that don't suffer Beijing Smog (that also send vast numbers of young people born in them to work in the cities), Japan has very few people living in the mountains and most of the rest in it's coastal conurbations.

Boyninja616:
I don't have a girlfriend, but that's no big deal.

According to the Japanese, i'm ill.

According to American teenagers, i'm a nerd.

According to my friends, i'm a weird, shut-in w**ker.

Oh well. At least I have disposable income, a car, a property and free time.

Unlike many people of my age, I grew up. I understand that one needs to be a realist and needs to work towards building a stable and independent life, which dating would quite frankly ruin. I don't understand why girls feel the need to go out with some arse just "Because" and guys feel the need to wear Polo or Checkered shirts and stick their hair in spikes to attract females. It's stupid and fatuous.

Wrong! You need to have a dumb, blonde girlfriend that will only suck money out of you, complain all the time and break up with you because you think her poodle is annoying piece of shit and you don't like Twilight!

And apparently everyone who isn't trying to fuck everything that moves is ill...

"You really want a someone to love."

This man has listened one Queen track too many. Or he's just trying to... I have no idea what, frankly. World is as fucking overpopulated as it is, and he wants people to have MORE children?

The random Mess of Neurons we call "Brains" has a few things not functioning the Way we like them. We're all mental in one way or another.

So yes, i am mentally ill in the Way described in the Article. If you want to call that an illness. I don't feel ill and unless i somehow tread on other Peoples freedom in any way i can be as ill as i "like" to be.
I do realize that this means i wont procreate and i'm ok with that. The World will have to do without my Offspring and it'll be fine.
Oh well, apparently i'm too much of a pathetic Loser to have any Woman be interested in me. I'll have to make do without one.

I can do that. Is that a Symptom? Thinking one can live without Company when Society pretty much tells us that we can't? I feel more like a Rebel against the Rules of Society then a pathetic Idiot who's too stupid and too afraid to talk to the Ladies.

The Ladies will have to make do without me. And they'll be fine.

Grey Carter:
If the current trend continues, by 2050 Japan's population will have shrunk 20%, and the elderly will make up 50% of those that remain, presumably leading to some kind of nightmarish, apocalyptic future where gangs of octogenarians stalk the streets of Tokyo on their mobility scooters, hunting teenagers with nets and tridents.

I would go see that movie.

Frankly, I've found dating to be a waste of time, and ignoring it has made my life so much better than my lady-obsessed peers.

Also, is it wrong for a man to friend-zone a girl?

trophykiller:
Frankly, I've found dating to be a waste of time, and ignoring it has made my life so much better than my lady-obsessed peers.

Also, is it wrong for a man to friend-zone a girl?

It`s not wrong, and not unheard of. I just hope that the girl y9u friend-zoned won`t take it the wrong way. Some just like to jump to a conclusion, that if she got "rejected" then the guy is gay, or a pervert of some kind. Sad but true.

Gorumgol:

Woodsey:
I can already see this slipping into a classic Escapist Relationship Thread.

AKA gamer douchebags whining about women not lining up to suck their cocks on command.

Now now, let's not forget how every other guy going out with a girl is a retarded ape who is barely intelligent enough to grunt, and how the anti-social misogynist whining about him is so much better for her.

ResonanceSD:

renegade7:
Do your part: Nail a Japanese girl!

that would make a kickass propaganda poster.

Il go nail two! What can I say, I am a philanthropist.

The title is completely misleading. He said that if you actually want a gf but your self-esteem is so low that you say you can't get one and try to pretend it's ok, that is an illness. Calling it an illness might be going too far, but it's certainly not a good thing.