Japanese cheating survey finds high infidelity rate in Kyoto and one of Tokyo’s neighbors

The least-faithful prefecture in the survey is often laughed at for being uncool, but responding residents seem to be plenty popular.

Japan may still be enjoying the sweet, chocolatey afterglow of Valentine’s Day, but the harsh truth is that not everyone will stay true to the person they confessed their love for on the special day. As in all countries, some people in Japan feel the need for more than one lover, leading them to cheat on their girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse.

Sagami Rubber Industries, maker of Japan’s popular Sagami Original brand of condoms, recently conducted a nationwide survey in which it gathered responses from 14,100 people (300 from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures), with its responses showing that 15.2 percent of women were cheating on their dating partner or spouse by sleeping with at least one other person. For men, the number was even higher, with more than one in five, 20.5 percent, sleeping with someone on the side.

Even more startling was the regional breakdown for the data. At the top of the list was Saitama Prefecture, Tokyo’s neighbor to the north (which also recently topped a by-prefecture breast growth ranking), where 31.03 percent of respondents, male or female, admitted to cheating sexually. Coming in second was Kyoto, long considered a bastion of elegant manners and etiquette, with 25.63 percent, followed by Wakayama (24.27 percent) in third. Meanwhile, Tokyo ranked 12th (22.69 percent), while the prefectures with the strongest sense of commitment were relatively rural Mie (16.94 percent), Shimane (16.74 percent), and Tottori (14.88 percent).

The complete by-prefecture list:
● Saitama: 31.03 percent
● Kyoto: 25.63 percent
● Wakayama: 24.72 percent
● Gifu: 23.91 percent
● Yamaguchi: 23.48 percent
● Chiba: 23.18 percent
● Miyazaki: 23.04 percent
● Aichi: 23.01 percent
● Tochigi: 22.84 percent
● Kanagawa: 22.84 percent
● Ehime: 23.01 percent
● Tokyo: 22.69 percent
● Aomori: 22.62 percent
● Okayama: 22.59 percent
● Hyogo: 22.03 percent
● Saga: 21.94 percent
● Kagawa: 21.93 percent
● Hiroshima: 21.65 percent
● Okinawa: 21.62 percent
● Hokkaido: 21.50 percent
● Fukui: 20.92 percent
● Miyagi: 20.61 percent
● Kagoshima: 20.54 percent
● Yamanashi: 20.33 percent
● Toyama: 20.16 percent
● Kochi: 20.16 percent
● Niigata: 20.00 percent
● Fukuoka: 19.83 percent
● Fukushima: 19.55 percent
● Osaka: 19.30 percent
● Nara: 18.67 percent
● Iwate: 18.64 percent
● Nagano: 18.64 percent
● Shiga: 18.56 percent
● Shizuoka: 18.49 percent
● Oita: 18.30 percent
● Kumamoto: 18.10 percent
● Nagasaki: 17.62 percent
● Yamagata: 17.60 percent
● Gunma: 17.54 percent
● Akita: 17.43 percent
● Tokushima: 17.27 percent
● Ibaraki: 17.17 percent
● Ishikawa: 17.14 percent
● Mie: 16.94 percent
● Shimane: 16.74 percent
● Tottori: 14.88 percent

When the data was sorted by age and sex, male respondents in their 30s were the least faithful, with a whopping 30.9 percent copping to cheating. Women’s fidelity also hit a low point in the 30-something group, with a 17.9-percent cheating rate. Meanwhile, the most loyal men and women were those in their 60s (19.8-percent cheating rate for men, 10.5 percent for women), likely due to combined factors of liking their partner enough to still be together at their advanced age, meeting fewer new people to potentially cheat with, or perhaps simply not having enough energy to go sneaking around behind anyone’s back in their retirement-age years.

Source: Sagami Rubber Industries
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso

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