調查：40%的日本人一個月不過性生活Survey： 40 pct. in Japan not having sex

The secret behind Japan's plunging birth rate? A record 39.7 percent of Japanese citizens ages 16-49 have not had sex for over a month - up 5 percentage points from two years ago - according to a survey published this week by the Japan Family Planning Association.

爲什麼日本的生育率持續下降？據日本計劃生育協會本週公佈的一項調查顯示，在16歲至49歲之間的日本人中，有39.7%的人一個多月沒有進行性生活，比兩年前高5個百分點。

Among married couples, the rate was only slightly lower, at 34.6 percent.

這一比例在已婚夫婦中略低，爲34.6%。

"This is very bad news for the country's birth rate, and something the government needs to look into urgently," said Dr. Kunio Kitamura, the family planning association's director.

計劃生育協會主任國生北村博士說：“這對日本的生育率來說無疑是個壞消息，政府必須立即對此採取措施。”

The survey comes amid concerns over Japan's faltering birthrate, which fell in 2005 to a record low of 1.26 births in an average woman's lifetime. The decline has stoked government fears of tax revenue shortfalls and labor shortages.

此調查源於政府對國內的生育率一直停滯不前的擔憂。2005年，日本的生育率（普通女性一生中所生孩子的平均數量）跌至歷史最低點，只有1.26。這一狀況引起了政府對稅收收入不足以及勞動力短缺的擔憂。

"The situation is dismal," Kitamura said. "My research shows that if you don't have sex for a month, you probably won't for a year."

北村博士說：“目前的狀況很可怕。我所做的調查顯示，如果你一個月不過性生活，那麼可能一年都不會過。”

Kitamura partly blamed stress from busy working lives.

北村博士認爲，工作繁忙所產生的壓力也是導致這種狀況的一大原因。

A decline in physical communication in an increasingly Web-based society was also a factor, he said.

此外，互聯網的日益普及造成人們身體接觸的減少也是其中的一個因素。

The association said it handed out questionnaires to 2,713 randomly selected people, and received responses from 636 men and 773 women in November 2006. In a similar poll taken two years ago, 35 percent reported having no sex for a month.

2006年11月，日本計劃生育協會向隨機選取的2731名調查對象分發了調查問卷，並收回636份男性回覆和773份女性回覆。在兩年前的一項類似的調查中，共有35%的受訪者一個月沒有進行性生活。

Japan came last in a 29-country study of sexual satisfaction published by the University of Chicago last year, with a mere 25.7 percent of lovers expressing satisfaction in bed.

芝加哥大學去年公佈的一項涉及29個國家的調查顯示，日本的性滿意度最低，只有25.7%的情侶對性生活感到滿意。

The country was also in last place among 41 nations in a 2005 poll by condom manufacturer Durex, with people having sex just 45 times a year compared to a global average of 103.

安全套製造商杜蕾絲公司2005年在41個國家所做的一項民意調查顯示，日本人的年均性生活次數最低，只有45次，而世界年均性生活次數是103次。