BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN

"Why Have Young People in Japan Stopped Having Sex?" — sure makes for a good headline,

doesn't it?

A recent article from The Guardian has gained a fair amount of attention by pairing that

headline with some equally alarming statistics.

Among them:

--Half of dating-age people in Japan are single.

--Forty-five percent of women 16 to 25 "were not interested in or despised sexual contact."

--A third of people younger than 30 have never dated anyone.

--And nearly 90 percent of women who aren't married don't plan on getting hitched. (Via

Wikimedia Commons / Rei)

Perhaps not a surprise coming from a country with an entire industry devoted to pairing

lonely Japanese men with virtual girlfriends. (Via The Wall Street Journal)

Dubbed "celibacy syndrome," the apparent growing loss of interest in sex in Japan is due in

part, some say, to the thinking among many Japanese women that putting marriage and family

first could jeopardize their careers. And it's said to be having an effect on Japan's

looming population crisis. (Via Science World Report)

How's this for a statistic? In 2012, more adult diapers were sold in Japan than baby

diapers. The implication is for every retired person in the country, there are fewer working-age

taxpayers.

Unless the trend is reversed, Japan's population is set to shrink dramatically. Its population

of 126 million is on track to plunge one-third by 2060. (Via ABC)

That being said, the data and the way it's been presented by The Guardian have attracted

a good deal of skepticism. (Via Bloomberg)

As Slate's Joshua Keating points out, what's lacking from the conversation is a global

perspective because in reality, "Japan is simply facing a more acute version of a trend

the rest of the world is also experiencing."

Take this study from the Pew Research Center. It found 75 percent of Americans not in a

romantic relationship are currently not looking for one — a much higher percentage than

can be said for Japan.

And marriage rates are dropping in the U.S., too. A majority of Americans between 25 and

34 have never married. (Via The Wall Street Journal)

Most notably, birth rates are falling pretty much everywhere. But is a lack of interest

in sex to blame? (Via The Washington Post)

A writer for Kotaku says there are many explanations for Japan's apparent dry spell: a changing

family structure, harsh immigration policies, and the rising costs of raising a family,

to name a few. (Via Fox News)

"This is incredibly complex and nuanced stuff. Simply writing it off as, 'Oh, well, Japanese

people don't have sex' seems to dehumanize an entire country."