Japanese youngsters succumb to evils of sex

By Ryann Connell
November 9, 2004

Considering its reputation in some areas for proliferating pedophilia and pedaling pedophilic porn, Japan could well lay claim to being the Land of the Lolicon.

And with all the Lollypopping going on here, it probably goes some way to explaining why sexually transmitted diseases have started to appear in alarming levels among the country's elementary school pupils, according to Tokudane Shinsengumi.

Lolicon, a contraction of the English words Lolita Complex, is the word the Japanese have adopted to describe pedophilia and derives from Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita," the story of a middle-aged man obsessed with a young girl.

A Tokyo Metropolitan Government biennial survey about schoolchildren's sexual awareness revealed that a chilling 10 percent of third-year junior high school pupils - all of whom would be 15 or under - had sexual experience, an incredible increase over the mere 2 percent recorded a decade ago. But even more frightening could be the results of a poll of even younger kids.

"The survey showed that even 1.3 percent of first year junior high school pupils had sexual experience, so a poll on elementary school kids would be even more shocking," a metropolitan government insider tells Tokudane Shinsengumi. "Normally in these types of surveys, lots of kids would lie about their answers. But if there're already so many junior high school pupils owning up about so much, a poll on elementary schoolkids would have even more embarrassing results."

Actually, a study by the Youth Development Center on children attending cram schools showed that 15 percent of elementary school pupils had been through some sort of sexual experience, with 8 percent of the all grade schoolers claiming to have lost their virginity.

Elementary school teachers are hardly surprised by such findings.

"There's not a fifth or sixth grader in the country who doesn't know the word 'sex.' Some even know words like 'fellatio' or 'Onanism.' It's not uncommon to find little girls whispering sexual terms to each other and giggling in class," an unnamed male elementary school teacher tells the less-than-reputable glossy weekly. "They learn everything off the Net. About 90 percent of elementary school children are computer savvy and now about 80 percent of kids in the lower levels of schooling have their own mobile phones. Even if their parents try to shield them from sex, they find ways of getting their hands on information about it."

Initial curiosity, piqued interest and the chance to make money have led to the spread of STDs.

"Once kids computer and mobile phone skills have advanced a bit, they have little trouble finding their way to matchmaking sites, where many little girls offer their bodies for sale as a chance to pick up a bit of extra pocket money," a medical worker says, adding that yen notes are not the only things the elementary schoolgirls are picking up. "These children may be on a par with some adults regarding some aspects of sexuality, but they know absolutely zero about things like birth control or prevention of venereal disease. With all the sex they're having just to get some spare change for fun and games, it'd be stranger if there weren't high rates of STDs."

Chlamydia, the scourge of sexually rampant Japanese high schoolgirls, would also be the biggest worry of their younger sisters if they could even imagine it existed in the first place.

"Chlamydia isn't life-threatening, but recent strains have showed a strong resistance to antibiotics. There are cases of women having picked up a super-resistant strain and been forced to deal with it for the rest of their lives. Of course, there's always the possibility of becoming infertile," a gynecologist tells Tokudane Shinsengumi. "On top of that, there have also been reports of an elementary school pupil contracting AIDS through sexual contact."

Copyright 1999-2004, Mainchi Daily.  All rights reserved.  Ryann Connell is a Staff Writer and Senoir Desk Editor for the Mainchi Daily News. No content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.  Please contact us via the link below for re-print and syndication policies.