When do Japanese women get their first kiss?

At just under 18 years old.

At least, the national average is 17.7 years old for when women in Japan get their first kiss, according to a new survey by LC Love Cosmetic.

In April this year the researchers asked 2,350 women from all over Japan and compiled the results into a handy map.

The kinkiest ladies, the ones most keen to get started on their smooching careers, hail from Tokyo (#1) at 16.3 years old, chilly Akita (#2) in the north at 16.6 years old, and then warm but typhoon-struck Nagasaki (#3) in the south at 16.7 years old.

In these prefectures, first and second graders in high school are busy sticking their tongues down each other’s throats in between cramming for the college entrance exams.

Intriguingly, in these three prefectures the first kisses were actually with cousins and (female?) friends more often than in other prefectures, which boosted the overall average. However, it also indicates perhaps that the girls either have very close relations with their chums or they were getting some practice in before the real deal came along.

The slowest ladies to get their foot on the kissing ladder hail from Nara and Aichi prefectures, where the average age was a mature 19.1 years old. Next up was the small Ishikawa (18.7 years old) on the Sea of Japan coast.

So there is a difference of 2.8 years between the fastest and the slowest prefectures. Think what the girls in Tokyo have achieved in that nearly three year window while the ladies of Aichi are still warming up their lips!