Many Japanese men are refusing to leave to leave their rooms

[vivacious]

This is an old concept that goes back to probably the 90s or so. It exists in other parts of the world too.

For one thing, Japan has some pretty insane subcultures. For another thing their country abruptly stopped developing in the 90s or so and has basically been stagnating with a "lost decade" or 2 since then.

Maybe we don't need to get too deep into it but it's some kind of maladaptive response to things and also seems to be predicated on a family that supports it unless they are earning (and spending) money almost entirely online (short trips outside late at night for snacks etc still counts as hikikomori usually).

It is kind of interesting though. It probably wouldn't kill you if for some reason you wanted to try it for a month or so.

[vivacious]

Japan has a lot of interesting concepts and subcultures. You can have a look at this: http://kotaku.com/the-world-of-japanese ... -506417591

There's another concept where men in their 30s or so basically stop spending money. They came of career age in the slowdown period in Japan and virtually cut all spending from their life as much as they could. I forget the name for this one right now.

They also have tentacle porn and all kinds of cool stuff. I find the nuclear situation and high cost of living to be deterrents. Otherwise Japan is one of my favorite countries and perhaps the best in the world.

[vivacious]

See also freeter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter , NEET http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEET , herbivore men http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbivore_men , and otaku http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku .

[vivacious]

More info particularly related to money: http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=898

[leeholsen]

i dont blame them.

i have a nice place, AC works great, comfy furniture, a deck outside where i can grill steaks and feed the local birds and squirrels nuts and for fun i watch the home shopping network and laugh my ass off watching the sales people sell useless crap to people that may use it once a year.

i have absolutley no need to go to whatever the local weekend festival is downtown or drop $100 on a night out when I can stay in and enjoy it just as much for $10(steak+desert).