A Japanese mother holding her baby is seen in this August 6, 2005 file photo。

"More sex." That's what one expert says is needed to solve Japan's baby shortage。

"Japanese people simply aren't having sex," Dr. Kunio Kitamura, director of the Japan Family Planning Association said。

An association survey of 936 people between the ages of 16 and 49 showed 31 percent had not had sex for more than a month "for no particular reason" -- a condition known as "sexless."

"As much as subsidies and welfare programmes are important, sexlessness is also a critical issue in this problem."

Japan's fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- fell to an all-time low of 1.25 last year. Demographers say a rate of 2.1 is needed to keep a population from declining。

Japan came last among 41 nations in a poll last year by condom manufacturer Durex, with lovers there having sex just 45 times a year compared to a global average of 103 times a year。

Kitamura said that while many men in workaholic Japan are simply too "stressed out" from their jobs to have enough energy for sex, many other couples simply do not have sex regularly。

In the association's survey, 44 percent of the people who said they weren't having much sex felt that having a relationship with the opposite sex was "very tiresome" or "tiresome."

Kitamura's advice? Couples should talk to each other。

(Agencies)

“日本所需要的是更多的性生活。” 一位专家在谈到如何解决日本人口出生率低的问题时如是说。

日本计划生育协会主任国生北村博士说：“日本人根本就很少过性生活。”

计划生育协会对936个年龄在16至49岁之间的人做了一项调查，调查显示，其中有31%的人已经一个多月没有过性生活了，但又“没有什么特殊的原因”。这种状况被称为“性冷淡”。

“(生育)津贴和福利计划固然重要，但在这个问题上，性冷淡也是一个关键性的因素。”

去年，日本的生育率(一个妇女一生中所生孩子的平均数量)下降至历史最低点，只有1.25。人口统计学家指出，生育率必须达到2.1，才能防止人口减少。

杜蕾丝安全套公司去年在41个国家所做的一项民意调查显示，日本人的年均性生活次数最低，只有45次，而世界年均性生活次数是103次。

北村说，在“工作至上”的日本，由于很多男人的工作压力太大，以至于他们没有足够的精力过性生活，但是很多其他的夫妇也没有正常的性生活。

计划生育协会的调查表明，在那些没有正常性生活的人群中，有44%的人觉得性生活“很无聊”或“无聊”。

对此，北村博士有什么建议呢?--夫妇之间应该进行沟通和交流。

(英语点津姗姗编辑)

Vocabulary:

sexless : lacking in sexual interest or activity(性冷淡的)

fertility rate : 生育率;人口出生率

workaholic : one who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work(工作狂;工作第一的人)