I feel like sex ed is covered a lot less than average in Japan and babies might just be found in grocery stores. It is not that every young female is pregnant like in America, but it is just that there are so many young mothers who must have been that way like 10 years back.
Recently a 2nd grader in Elementary school who is a big fan of mine was hanging around me and being the chatty little monkey he was and then eventually conversation swings around to "How old are you Lauren-sensei?"
"Oh, I am twenty-four" Saying it slowly in English and holding up my fingers of a two and a four for emphasis.
"Wow! You are almost my moms age!" he replies.
I think a moment and do the math. I was 8 in second grade right? eight minus twenty-four...sixteen?!?!!...
"Neat! How old is your mom?"
"My mom is twenty-six! My dad is thirty-nine!" he says excitedly to prove he knows his numbers.
Oh my...
I don't see many of these pregnant ladies walking around now, but he is not alone with a mom this young. I was in Nara, pretty close to when I first came here, and there was a lady who I thought to be an older sister with her boyfriend taking her siblings to the park. NOPE. Mom of 3. Normally if you see these mothers, you will realize that they might not come from the best areas. Their hair might be dyed, they might still wear the fake lashes, and over all trying too hard if you know what I mean. They are wearing clothes I might have secretly had in my closet when I was 16. And you will come the realization they might have at some point been call girls or hostesses or just simply too desperate. But if they had had the pill and not just faulty condoms maybe they would not have gotten pregnant on an accident and then married out of guilt.
Wrapping it
It is not like I blame the sex ed system for these young mothers, but perhaps if they even had a chance at some real contraception. Oh sure condoms are excessively available in Japan. You can find them at every convenience store or pharmacy and out in the open, not behind a counter or anything. Often they have been pretty well picked through unless it is stocking day. This rule goes doubly for convenience stores for some odd reason.
Speaking of condoms, I would like to address an issue on the matter. For all those Americans who are REALLY obnoxiously fond of making the joke 'oh I don't know if Asian condoms will fit me hurkhurkhurk' (sigh I wish I was exaggerating. Even my best male friend has been caught saying this....more than once) Did you know that nearly 90% of the condoms say large on them? 90%. If something is over 50% I would say that is about average. So if something is 90% I would even call it super average. But saying a condom size is super average doesn't sell as well right? And so the 'large' is strictly for advertising purposes. Moreover, did you know that China holds about 20% of the worlds population? So no, you can't just say 'oh, well the other 10% must be China and Asia . No you certainly cannot since China accounts for 20% alone with all of the other Asian countries adding to that percentage, so at the VERY least, more than half the people in all of Asia would have to be considered to be qualified for your super average condom size. With that being said, not they will not just accommodate half the people in Asia at the pharmacies and Trojan factories. So yes you can find your condom size over here you twat.
So yes, condoms can be found. They might be called standard or normal. Look it up if you aren't sure.
Getting the Pill in Japan
Next is in regards to the pill in Japan. It is actually quiet widely unavailable. And not just is it excessively difficult to obtain, it turns out the be really expensive.
How you would get it, is to go to a doctor every month and get the prescription for it. Every month. This visit will cost you between 1,000 - 3,000. I would not actually know off hand. My usual visits cost about 1,500 yen, but this might be a special doctor for whom you must pay visitation rights. So they charge you out the wazoo for the visit that is between 12,000 - 36,000 yen a year in visits. And then you would have to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription which could be about the same price. Ouch. And no, insurance does not cover a penny of it.
And on top of that, you really can't tell anyone that you are on it because they might automatically think you are a call girl or extremely promiscuous. After all who doesn't want babies? They really seem to judge you for that stuff here, and quite wrongly. So this is where I blame the sex education and the minimal availability of said contraception.
Interestingly in Korea, I think a good amount of people use it, especially mothers. They have a a solid 3 kids and they are not looking to have any more and in fact would like to slim down a bit. So total opposite. In Korea the pill is readily available with or without a prescription at nearly any pharmacy. It costs about 6,000 won. Less than 5 dollars. So if you really want the pill in Japan, my advice is to take a short trip to Korea at some time, stock up, and then go back. And you don't have to really worry about it expiring since it has an expiration date 3 year in the future.
Or if you have yet to come to Japan and are planning on moving here, I would recommend you to stock up where you are from. In England and America (depending on where you go and what your preferred drug is) the pill can be free, or at least really cheap.
more specifics on the pill.
Other forms of contraception
And for those of you who know about the ring (the little implant they do) or the injection. For the most part, they don't do those here. I don't think that the Japanese Ministry of Health has cleared these types of birth control to be practiced in Japan. Perhaps you might find someplace in Tokyo...But there is still hope for you, apparently you can get an IUD for about 40,000 yen and up. Here is more on that.
You messed up.
I don't see many of these pregnant ladies walking around now, but he is not alone with a mom this young. I was in Nara, pretty close to when I first came here, and there was a lady who I thought to be an older sister with her boyfriend taking her siblings to the park. NOPE. Mom of 3. Normally if you see these mothers, you will realize that they might not come from the best areas. Their hair might be dyed, they might still wear the fake lashes, and over all trying too hard if you know what I mean. They are wearing clothes I might have secretly had in my closet when I was 16. And you will come the realization they might have at some point been call girls or hostesses or just simply too desperate. But if they had had the pill and not just faulty condoms maybe they would not have gotten pregnant on an accident and then married out of guilt.
Wrapping it
It is not like I blame the sex ed system for these young mothers, but perhaps if they even had a chance at some real contraception. Oh sure condoms are excessively available in Japan. You can find them at every convenience store or pharmacy and out in the open, not behind a counter or anything. Often they have been pretty well picked through unless it is stocking day. This rule goes doubly for convenience stores for some odd reason.
Speaking of condoms, I would like to address an issue on the matter. For all those Americans who are REALLY obnoxiously fond of making the joke 'oh I don't know if Asian condoms will fit me hurkhurkhurk' (sigh I wish I was exaggerating. Even my best male friend has been caught saying this....more than once) Did you know that nearly 90% of the condoms say large on them? 90%. If something is over 50% I would say that is about average. So if something is 90% I would even call it super average. But saying a condom size is super average doesn't sell as well right? And so the 'large' is strictly for advertising purposes. Moreover, did you know that China holds about 20% of the worlds population? So no, you can't just say 'oh, well the other 10% must be China and Asia . No you certainly cannot since China accounts for 20% alone with all of the other Asian countries adding to that percentage, so at the VERY least, more than half the people in all of Asia would have to be considered to be qualified for your super average condom size. With that being said, not they will not just accommodate half the people in Asia at the pharmacies and Trojan factories. So yes you can find your condom size over here you twat.
So yes, condoms can be found. They might be called standard or normal. Look it up if you aren't sure.
Getting the Pill in Japan
Next is in regards to the pill in Japan. It is actually quiet widely unavailable. And not just is it excessively difficult to obtain, it turns out the be really expensive.
How you would get it, is to go to a doctor every month and get the prescription for it. Every month. This visit will cost you between 1,000 - 3,000. I would not actually know off hand. My usual visits cost about 1,500 yen, but this might be a special doctor for whom you must pay visitation rights. So they charge you out the wazoo for the visit that is between 12,000 - 36,000 yen a year in visits. And then you would have to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription which could be about the same price. Ouch. And no, insurance does not cover a penny of it.
And on top of that, you really can't tell anyone that you are on it because they might automatically think you are a call girl or extremely promiscuous. After all who doesn't want babies? They really seem to judge you for that stuff here, and quite wrongly. So this is where I blame the sex education and the minimal availability of said contraception.
Interestingly in Korea, I think a good amount of people use it, especially mothers. They have a a solid 3 kids and they are not looking to have any more and in fact would like to slim down a bit. So total opposite. In Korea the pill is readily available with or without a prescription at nearly any pharmacy. It costs about 6,000 won. Less than 5 dollars. So if you really want the pill in Japan, my advice is to take a short trip to Korea at some time, stock up, and then go back. And you don't have to really worry about it expiring since it has an expiration date 3 year in the future.
Or if you have yet to come to Japan and are planning on moving here, I would recommend you to stock up where you are from. In England and America (depending on where you go and what your preferred drug is) the pill can be free, or at least really cheap.
more specifics on the pill.
Other forms of contraception
And for those of you who know about the ring (the little implant they do) or the injection. For the most part, they don't do those here. I don't think that the Japanese Ministry of Health has cleared these types of birth control to be practiced in Japan. Perhaps you might find someplace in Tokyo...But there is still hope for you, apparently you can get an IUD for about 40,000 yen and up. Here is more on that.
You messed up.
So what happens after the fact? You forgot everything and did it anyways. Well there is some hope for you, you can go to the aforementioned doctor and she can actually provide you with a prescription for the morning after pill. So you then go the the pharmacy that is always located near the hospitals and doctors offices and fill that little prescription. In case you need to refer to it, it is called 緊急避妊法. 緊急 (きんきゅう, kinkyuu). Or you can call it the morning after pill. Just say it all Japanese-like. No, really.
You messed up. Big time.
And if you REALLY mess up? Well yes, they do have abortions. They too, are a bit of a rare case. I know they have them because I know a couple that had one. A Japanese couple. I am not sure of the process, but it might be lengthy and you might have to come up with a better reason than 'I'm not ready for a child right now' which worked for them as they were quite young at the time. Also important is that you have to go to a government-established place to get it done. All other operations are determined to be illegal. But I mean if you threw yourself down the stairs, I don't really see how than can arrest you for such 'accident'. And no I would not condone it. Just saying that these laws are funny.
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