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Introducing Japan’s ‘yaramiso’ man

Weekly Playboy Apr. 7
Weekly Playboy Apr. 7
A study conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, indicates that the number of unmarried men between the age of 30 and 24 in Japan has risen by 10 percent between 1995 and 2010.

A separate study from two years ago, this time by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, indicates that one in four single men in the same age group is a virgin — a figure that has held steady for the past 15 years.

Weekly Playboy (Apr. 7) concludes that the uptick in single men coinciding with the steady rate of virginity means more men still have their cherry intact beyond their 29th birthday than before.

The magazine invokes the term yaramiso — a combination of yarazu (to not have sex) and misoji (a person in their 30s) — to describe the condition, one that an expert says is hard to change.

“Frankly, it is difficult for a yaramiso to get a girlfriend,” says Rajio Furuta, a self-described analyst of the market for those seeking marriage partners.

The analyst says that many women of the yaramiso generation will have already gotten married. Further, matchmaking parties apply strict age limits for entry.

“The chance to meet a partner drops considerably,” says Furuta.

Another complication is that these types of guys are just not popular.

“In meeting women, the desirable guys are those who understand women through their past experiences with women,” says Furuta.

Certainly, for some yaramiso men it could be a matter of waiting for that special someone as hitting a fuzoku parlor is very simple for those just looking for first-time action.

In any case, Weekly Playboy lists seven characteristics of the “yaramiso syndrome” for its readers:

1. Those around you laugh when you speak of your ideal woman.
2. You cannot forget a woman from the past.
3. You pay attention to blogs or radio programs that provide a positive outlook on virginity.
4. You find comfort in news on soshoku danshi, or herbivorous men.
5. When you look at a woman you think she is looking through you.
6. There are no single women at your place of work.
7. You are satisfied in being single.

With each passing year, the chances that a yaramiso man will lose his virginity steadily decrease, says Weekly Playboy, which suggests to its readership: Strike while the iron is hot! (A.T.)

Source: “Kyuzochu suru ‘ankoku no yaramiso (yarazu ni misoji)’ kara dasshutsu shita otoko tachi ni (gyaku ni) manabu!!!” Weekly Playboy (Apr. 7, page 42)