The reason is, we don't have enough money.<p>Lack of money requires both partners to work in order to sustain the family.
Typical Japanese work at least 8 hours, Plus one hour resting in the middle as the law demands it so it took 9 hours of a day.<p>But we don't have a luxury to live next to the working place.
Most Japanese live 1-2 hours away from the working place. Going to work requires 2 to 4 hours.<p>It took 11 or 13 hours of a day.<p>Not all jobs are 9-5 jobs. The holidays are also differs.<p>So, partners work hours and holidays doesn't overlap.<p>Which makes really narrow margin of time spending together with the partner.<p>And this is the case of a family without having any kids.
No wonder the birth rate is historically low.<p>Before somebody mentioned it, remote work isn't possible for many type of works. Most jobs still requires physical person's presence.
Is this what the halt state for Western civilization looks like? Very high quality of life, long lifespans, and essentially no crime, but at a cost of rampant ennui.<p>The shrinking population thing is basically happening in every first world country, we only notice it in Japan because their immigration policy is essentially "No."
The work culture in Japan is awful. A <i>salaryman</i> is expected to spend so much time at the office keeping a relationship healthy is a hurculean task. It doesn't seem very surprising to find couples aren't having sex by their 40s and 50s - they're strangers, emotionally.