Forget the porn stars...
2005-07-05 11:57
Kobe - With bare-skinned porn stars providing a negative example, Japan is trying new tricks to get men to put on condoms, making rubbers that are thinner, thicker or glow in the dark.
A regional conference here on Aids has largely focused on how to promote condom use in developing and conservative societies. But host nation Japan has seen condom sales shrivel.
Japan for the first time recorded more than 1 000 new HIV or Aids cases last year, which is low by global standards but is at odds with most of the industrialised world where the number of new infections is decreasing.
"Since the mid-1990s, we have seen industry-wide sales plateau or slightly decline, mainly due to decreased use of condoms among young men and to young couples who do not have sex," said Akira Tsukamoto, salesman at Japan's top condom maker Okamoto.
The company occupies more than 60% of the 10 billion yen a year domestic condom market.
Sales peaked in 90s amid HIV fears
The use of condoms in Japan peaked in the early 1990s after a series of HIV cases led to a sense of emergency, Tsukamoto said.
"But that time has passed, and we are now seeing many young people who are used to watching porn videos and fantasising, misunderstanding sex," Tsukamoto said.
"Young men nowadays say they get more pleasure without condoms. They prefer not to use condoms because they see porn stars are not using condoms. Because Japan does not have full and proper sex education for students, they just believe what they see," he said.