Reddit mentions of Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation (Vintage Departures)

I'm sure it's mentioned in the video, but for those of you who are curious, the Japanese have a term for these people: hikikomori. Say what you want about their financial situation and/or lack of parenting, but the problem is a nationwide issue and much more significant than "kids being kids."

Someone also asked how things are now. Not specifically related to hikikomori, but this article is a few years old and does a good job of summarizing the grim outlook for young people in Japan. Tl;dr salarymen culture + women more interested in careers + video games + declining national economic prosperity = less sex.

That being said, Japan is one of my favorite countries. Been twice in the last five years. I know it will bounce back.

EDIT: grammar

EDIT2: Since this comment is doing well, here are some links. Icyc, I'm a high school teacher who had a student dealing with a similar (albeit Americanized) situation. Got sucked in to reading about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/shutting-themselves-in.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01bdmw7

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23255526

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsGeXdc6nAQ

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23182523

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/24/last-call-3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X82pqL-gEnQ

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/fyi-what-hikikomori

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Y7R5zP0wc

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028MBKKM

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/17/growing-band-young-people-reclusive-life

http://isp.sagepub.com/content/56/2/178

http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=sowk_ja

http://m.isp.sagepub.com/content/59/1/73.short

*http://hikikomori.fr/2013/12/12/phd-dissertation-social-withdrawal-in-japan-tajan-2014/