Growing number of middle-aged men in Japan are still virgins

Middle-aged men sketching a nude model at a studio in Tokyo on April 26, 2015. A 2010 survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research found that around a quarter of Japanese men in their 30s were still virgins. -- PHOTO: AFP.

TOKYO (AFP) - Takashi Sakai is a healthy 41-year-old heterosexual man with a good job and a charming smile. But he's never had sex, one of a growing number of middle-aged Japanese men who are still virgins.

Sakai has never even had any kind of relationship with a woman, and says he has no idea how he might get to know one. "I've never had a girlfriend. It's never happened," he said. "It's not like I'm not interested. I admire women. But I just cannot get on the right track."