日本性感染症学会誌 Journal of Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infections

The current study used data from the National Survey of Sexual Behavior of Youths, a national statistical survey in Japan, to examine the status of and changes in the sexual behaviors of youths in the country. In addition to a brief historical overview of the survey, the study discussed intertemporal and intergenerational changes in sexual behavior and also examined the cumulative number of sexual partners and presence or absence of the same at different time of the surveys. The findings showed that the rates of kissing and sexual intercourse among high school students exhibited a downward trend since 2005, and comparison of sexual behaviors between generations showed that those born in the 2000s exhibited highest rates of dating experience in their early teens. Moreover, the highest cumulative rates of kissing and intercourse were observed among those born in the 1980s, while those born in the 2000s were more likely to have experienced the same earlier in their teens. No significant changes in the distribution of the number of people who had had sexual intercourse and their current sexual partners among those who have had sexual intercourse were observed over time.