Hikikomori has become a major issue in Japan. Loosely translated as "social withdrawal," Hikikomori refers to the state of anomie into which an increasing number of young Japanese seem to fall these days. Socially withdrawn kids typically lock themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to have any contact with the outside world.
They live in reverse: they sleep all day, wake up in the evening and stay up all night watching television or playing video games.
{{U}} (8) {{/U}} Their funk can last for months, even years in extreme cases. No official statistics are available, but it is estimated that more than one million young Japanese suffer from the affliction. One such young man was the protagonist of my latest novel, Symbiosis Worm.
Hikikomori is a consequence of the phenomenal growth of the Japanese economy during the latter half of the 20th century and the tremendous technological progress the country made during that time. Japanese youth could not afford to be socially withdrawn if their parents were not affluent enough to provide them a home, meals and extras that have come to be thought of as basics--audio and video equipment, software, mobile phones, computers.{{U}} (9) {{/U}}
Affluent Japanese do not know what kind of lifestyle to take up now.{{U}} (10) {{/U}} "Socially withdrawn" people find it extremely painful to communicate with the outside world, and thus they turn to the tools that bring virtual reality into their closed rooms. {{U}}(11) {{/U}} The country has to accept that World War II ended long ago--and so did the glory days of national restoration and economic growth. We don't need the state to come up with an alternative national goal. Instead Japan should develop into a society in which each member is able to set his or her own aims. That's not easy, but not impossible. If the culture cannot adjust and drowns in a tsunami of technology.{{U}} (12) {{/U}}

A Some own computers or mobile phones, but most have few or no friends.
B Socially withdrawn kids typically lock themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to have any contact with the outside world.
C Japan, on the other hand, must face reality itself.
D Great changes in a country's social structure have always caused stresses.
E That uncertainty has pulled people further apart and caused a whole raft of social problems. Hikikomori is naturally one of them.
F Japan will end up sinking even deeper into a labyrinth of confusion.
G And there are plenty of newer technological devices for these youths to pursue.