For those who understand the true state of contemporary Japanese society, it may come as a surprise that incidents like this have not been occurring at a much higher rate.
Modern Japan (circa 2005- on) is the most sexually repressed country and boasting the highest rates of suicides in the world, coupled by a steeply plummeting birthrate and an undercurrent of severe collective psychological distress that has been almost forcibly swept under the rug by authorities determined to broadcast to the world only the modern, sleek and ultra high tech side of the country. In reality, Japanese society today can really be described as fire and ice, black and white, or any other choice of polar comparisons you prefer. The facade of normal, orderly daily life, bright lights and fast trains, and stringent observation of rules and law barely covers a vast underworld of mental illness, repressed anger, societal jealousy, and social malfunction in general.
Their work culture is absolutely insane. Don't get me wrong, I am all about hard work and being the provider for your family, but Japan takes this to an entirely new level. In a society dominated by postwar economic and technological growth where men had been indoctrinated to seek out careers in the white collar fields, it is not unusual for the average suit and tie salaryman to work up to 100 hours a week, often at forced rates of speed to catch up with demand. Therefore, family life has suffered catastrophically. It is not uncommon at all for men to turn their offices into dormitories, filled with ramen noodles and other fast foods just to avoid a long commute home only to return to the office 6 hours later. As a result, most of these salarymen have turned to extreme drinking as the only outlet for release. One of my friends who is also an Arfcommer had been there on vacation and he told us how he tried to catch a bus one night, almost 2AM in the early morning, and saw that the sidewalks, alleys, and park benches were full of guys still in their business suits, stoned drunk and passed out.
Japan may be one of the richest nations on earth and all due to their relentless expansion of industry and technology, and for that, they are paying a social price for it. Japanese women are known to be some of the most materialistic and wealth oriented out of all the East Asian societies. Today, it is said that if you are a Japanese man and you do not make six figures, own at least one BMW and your own house, do not even THINK about getting a date.
And since the early 2000's, and now rising to near-catastrophic levels, there is one distinct segment of the Japanese population who are completely invisible. Even the word used to describe them has officially entered the English language.
Hikikomori. According to a recent documentary done by BBC, it is estimated that between 600,000 and 700,000 people, mostly men, are living in self imposed total isolation from society. The few who opened up their stories to the journalists reveal a life in total filth and squalor amidst heaps of accumulated refuse and rotting waste. Some of these guys have not even left their rooms for up to 20 years or more, relying entirely on their parents for sustenance, and with the Internet, video games, and anime porn as their only links to the outside world. Their reasons for this self isolation include a lot of things. Some of which are legitimate mental illness, extreme agoraphobia, or a fear of failure. Many others are simply overwhelmed by the demands that society has placed upon them and have given up on life itself. You think our basement dwelling incels and hoarders are bad, you have not seen anything yet. And now, with such a high number of men who have completely lost their abilities to connect with society or get jobs, a new crisis has developed: Many of the parents caring for these invalids are growing old and dying as the years go on. The men themselves are also aging, some of them now well past their sixties. As mental illness presents a major stigma in Japanese culture, outreach programs to try and help these troubled individuals have largely been failures. As a matter of fact, things have gotten so dire that the government has now created programs called "Rent-A-Sister", where, for a fee paid by the parents, an attractive female social worker will go out to their homes and physically try to talk and coax these recluses out of their self imposed prisons. These programs have been met with mixed results so far.
The women trying to coax Japan’s reclusive young men out of their bedrooms.
www.bbc.com
