A missionary mentor once suggested that in order to better understand modern Japan, we should read Shutting Out the Sun by Michael Zielenziger. I've only read the first 60 pages or so, but have been impressed with the detailed accounts of people suffering as hikikomori, described in the book as a "social disease" wherein people withdraw from society. I have met a few who have been hikikomori, and have heard snatches of their stories, but to read about several people and their gradual descent into isolation in detail has been enlightening.
I certainly don't want to suggest this book as means of "Japan-bashing." I present the book because it is encouraging to think of the tremendous opportunity in the midst of the extreme darkness portrayed in the book. God's people will shine brightly in such darkness as they act as agents of mercy.
If you think you might be interested in the book, here are a few teasers from the back cover:
The world's second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America as the leading global economic powerhouse. But the country failed to recover from the staggering economic collapse of the early 1990s. Today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends, notably a population of more than one million hikikomori: young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society. There is also a growing number of "parasite singles": women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children. . .Shutting Out the Sun is a bold explanation of Japan's stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.
Not dry at all, it's an interesting read.
I certainly don't want to suggest this book as means of "Japan-bashing." I present the book because it is encouraging to think of the tremendous opportunity in the midst of the extreme darkness portrayed in the book. God's people will shine brightly in such darkness as they act as agents of mercy.
If you think you might be interested in the book, here are a few teasers from the back cover:
The world's second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America as the leading global economic powerhouse. But the country failed to recover from the staggering economic collapse of the early 1990s. Today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends, notably a population of more than one million hikikomori: young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society. There is also a growing number of "parasite singles": women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children. . .Shutting Out the Sun is a bold explanation of Japan's stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.
Not dry at all, it's an interesting read.
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