IT’S a difficult concept to imagine and a problem that’s leading to a national catastrophe.

In an era where dating is at your fingertips, one part of the world is losing interest in conventional relationships altogether.

For a country with more than 127 million people, very few are choosing to go on a date, or even get intimate with another person.

In fact, the national “turn off” is growing so rapidly, that almost half of those under 40 in Japan are still virgins.

Basically, sex is no longer a priority for the younger demographic. A “celibacy syndrome” which could have huge effects beyond its borders.

According to an investigation by SBS’s The Feed , millions of people under 30 aren’t even dating. Instead, they simply turn to masturbation clubs or robots for intimacy. And while it may sound comical, this growing trend is a problem the government says is only getting worse, and could have dire consequences on Japan — and the world.

Japan already has one of the world’s lowest birthrates. With a population that has been shrinking for the past decade, Japan is projected to drop a further one-third by 2060.

With birthrates at an all time low, The Feed’s presenter Marc Fennell says adult diapers are almost outselling nappies for babies.

The cause for abstinence has been blamed on a number of areas — from porn to anime and even the use of robots for sex.

But according to Fennell, there’s a much bigger player at hand. Young people are just “too busy” for a relationship, or to even have sex with another person.

Single “salary man” 26-year-old Taiyo Hashimoto says his 15-hour-day workloads means he has little time for a relationship or to even go on a date.

“I’m supposed to finish work at 7pm but I work overtime basically every day,” he said, via a translator.

“The work is so busy, if people don’t have interest in getting girls they just don’t get girls and that’s why people are single.”

Working in an office, Mr Hashimoto is on a mission to climb the corporate ladder, which often means he will catch the last train home at midnight after having drinks with his boss.

“I have to keep up with him, which is hard on me. He has a drink. So do I. He asks for another, so do I. That’s what you’re expected to do,” he said.

But along with work, he says the booming sex industry provides young people with a platter of options when it comes to intimacy — many of which require little commitment.

From escorts to fetish clubs, the pressure for finding a relationship has all but increased.

“Men go to brothels or massage parlours, fuelled by after-work drinks with their colleagues,” Mr Hashimoto said. “That sort of thing is common. Actually, they brag ‘I met this type,’ or ‘mine was so hot,’ to each other. It’s all part of the fun.”

In a survey conducted in 2011, the amount of single people in Japan had reached an all time high. The research found that 61 per cent of unmarried men and 49 per cent of unmarried women between the age of 18-34 were not in any type of relationship. Another study, said 30 per cent of men in their 30s, and the same proportion in their 20s, admitting that they have no experience of dating a woman.

Ai Aoyama is a former dominatrix turned sex and relationship therapist. Known as the “Love Queen”, she told Fennell that when sex was so freely available in clubs, there was no incentive to be in a relationship.

“There are lots of places for men to have fun. Men don’t have to bother having a girlfriend,” she said.

“Young people in today’s Japan are into a virtual world where they meet very pretty girls. A flesh and blood girl is scary, she might disobey you.”

In a desperate bid to get young people back into relationships and meeting people, local governments have set up speed-dating services where people can come to meet potential lifelong partners.

These matchmaking services work like you might expect. Single people show up to go on quick dates one after another. When they’re done, they follow up with people they find most compatible.

The practice is known as konkatsu, or “marriage hunting,” with local authorities seeing the service as a major step toward bumping the fertility rate back up to healthy levels.

But Ai Aoyama agrees that Japan’s corporate culture is affecting what’s happening in the bedroom — and even when it comes to finding a date.

“Really, if this continues, problems like declining birthrates will get worse,” she said, saying she believed the country should “adopt polygamy” to overcome the problem.

“It involves one excellent man and allows a number of women to bear his children,” she said.

But while the Japanese culture still has a strong emphasis on men being the breadwinners, which has a serious implication for marriage and having children, few are wanting to settle down and get married.

According to The Guardian, “Japanese men have become less career-driven, and less solvent, as lifetime job security has waned.”

However, Japanese women have become more independent and ambitious such as sushi chef, Yuki Chizui.

At 31, Ms Chizui runs Japan’s first sushi restaurant staffed entirely by women. She said being a “strong woman” and her ambition to break down barriers in the workplace was not popular with potential suitors.

“I can find men, but the problem is I speak out a lot … That somehow puts them off,” she told The Feed.

“To keep their dignity, men want someone weaker than themselves, thin and frail, soft and feminine like the maid cafe girls.”

Watch the full SBS documentary, THE FEED: Sex in Japan: Dying for Company