false 25351 2 The world&#8217;s second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America. But its failure to recover from the economic collapse of the early 1990s was unprecedented, and today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends. Japan has the highest suicide rate and lowest birthrate of all industrialized countries, and a rising incidence of untreated cases of depression. Equally as troubling are the more than one million young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society, and the growing numbers of &#8220;parasite singles,&#8221; the name given to single women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children.<br><br>In <i>Shutting Out the Sun</i>, Michael Zielenziger argues that Japan&#8217;s rigid, tradition-steeped society, its aversion to change, and its distrust of individuality and the expression of self are stifling economic revival, political reform, and social evolution. Giving a human face to the country&#8217;s malaise, Zielenziger explains how these constraints have driven intelligent, creative young men to become modern-day hermits. At the same time, young women, better educated than their mothers and earning high salaries, are rejecting the traditional path to marriage and motherhood, preferring to spend their money on luxury goods and travel. <br><br>Smart, unconventional, and politically controversial, <i>Shutting Out the Sun</i> is a bold explanation of Japan&#8217;s stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world. 26092 2006 Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation total:120|5:22|4:40|3:47|2:10|1:1| 120 432 205 45 3 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Jul 13 00:35:31 -0700 2007 Thu Apr 24 14:13:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Sun Nov 18 19:29:04 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 11 22:27:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 18:58:40 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 16:17:49 -0700 2008 hikikomori problem - boys (usually bullied at school) who just decide to "drop out" of society, not even leaving their bedrooms for years; there's also a discussion of the growing trend among young women to stay at home, refusing to marry, well past ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 05:58:13 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 05:59:18 -0800 2009
T...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 12:23:05 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 15:13:14 -0700 2009
All the information in the book comes from Zeilenziger or someone he interviews telling us "how it is." There are very few statistics or 'hard facts' anywhere, and that makes it difficult for me to imagine or care about the world Zeile...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 15:45:06 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 12:28:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 04:53:39 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 04:59:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 17:45:33 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 21:30:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 19 09:19:39 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 19 09:37:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 18 17:07:56 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 18 17:22:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Feb 11 12:36:45 -0800 2008 Sat May 24 10:55:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat May 10 21:11:33 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 21 07:57:13 -0800 2007 Sat May 10 21:11:33 -0700 2008 Shutting out the Sun focuses on Japan's "hikikomori". Over one million of Japans' citizens have chosen to lock themselves out of society. With no sign of mental illness, these individuals self-isolate, usually at a young age, and have no way to get back into the tra...more...]]> 2 0 true false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 08:34:20 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 08:18:47 -0700 2007
The book discusses various different sub groups in Japanese society thats become a somewhat of a phenomenon. For instance, the 'hikimori' are the outca...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 03 01:15:52 -0700 2007 Sat Jan 05 19:14:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 00:55:29 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 01:11:34 -0700 2008 A fascinating analysis of the hikikomori phenomenon (young Japanese men who shut themselves in their rooms and refuse all contact with the outside world), and how it relates to (and illustrates the problems of) Japanese culture and society as ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Dec 15 19:32:48 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 19:34:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jan 28 14:34:52 -0800 2009 Mon May 04 17:36:27 -0700 2009
It's no surprise that Zielenzinger is a journalist: his assertions and gen...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 17:25:14 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 17:31:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 30 15:58:55 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 16:05:24 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Nov 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Oct 12 19:43:13 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 07:51:30 -0800 2009 more...]]>