Japan tries to make condoms fun

"Since the mid-1990s, we have seen industry-wide sales plateau or slightly decline, mainly due to decreased use of condoms among young men and to young couples who do not have sex," said Akira Tsukamoto, salesman at Japan's top condom maker Okamoto.

The company occupies more than 60 per cent of the 10 billion yen ($90 million) a year domestic condom market. The use of condoms in Japan peaked in the early 1990s after a series of HIV cases led to a sense of emergency, Tsukamoto said.

"But that time has passed, and we are now seeing many young people who are used to watching porn videos and fantasising, misunderstanding sex," Tsukamoto said.

"Young men nowadays say they get more pleasure without condoms. They prefer not to use condoms because they see porn stars are not using condoms. Because Japan does not have full and proper sex education for students, they just believe what they see," he said.

The Japan Condom Association, an industry group of eight Japanese manufacturers, showed off its new wares aimed at making condom use exciting.

Tsukamoto said his company has seen a hit with a super-thin condom, introduced in 2003 that is 0.03 millimeter (0.0012 inch) thick, even though at 2,000 yen a dozen it is twice the price of the standard 0.05 millimeter ones.

"We spent eight years for research and development of the super-thin condom," he said. But for those who would rather have the opposite sensation, Okamoto has also developed a "hard play" condom that is 0.1 millimeter thick, which Tsukamoto said can come in handy to stop premature ejaculation.

And then there is a condom meant to prevent another problem -- fumbling around in the dark. "We have glow-in-the-dark condoms available. It is easy to see, so it is easy to wear in the dark," Tsukamoto explained.

Behind the gimmicks, though, he said the special condoms had a serious point. More young women are becoming pregnant due to men who believe incorrectly that pulling out before ejaculation can prevent pregnancy and diseases, he said.

"Condoms are necessary. We must get our message to young people," Tsukamoto said.