before the crow of the cockerel

It's Chinese New Year tomorrow. I will be celebrating tonight with my family - there will be a lot of food, and possibly alcohol (if I have anything to do with it).

I've been thinking today about the differences in Chinese and Japanese culture - for all the similarities in beliefs, superstitions and traditions, there are also many significant differences that I cannot relate to or even begin to comprehend. I was chatting to a friend the other week about this condition that seems to be rife in Japan.
It's known as hikikomori. This condition causes (mostly) young people to lock themselves into a room and refuse to come out. They don't speak to anyone, don't leave the room, don't go to school or college and this can last for years. The strangest thing is that the parents accept this behaviour and work around it - the mother often cooking the meals and leaving them at the door for their child to eat. People don't talk about it as if it's shameful and a reflection of the inadequacy of the parenting. Japan as a society are very proud people - much like the chinese. We abhor the idea of 'losing face' just as much as they do but the Japanese tendency to keep everything absolutely behind closed doors is different to the way of the Chinese. For all their advancements in technology - socially they have a long way to go. How can a society expect progression if they cannot address their issues? Or even admit to them?

The conjecture is that this condition can be attributed to suffering from pressure - pressure from school, parents, even society to do well and be successful. To avoid becoming a failure.
This makes me think back to when I was younger - when all that mattered was getting the grades that would make my parents happy and proud. Such naive but natural thoughts. Now that I've grown up I realise that my parents did not directly pressure me to do well, but neither did they encourage me to live for myself. Those years of bitterness at never doing well enough.

Imagine a million people hidden away from the rest of the world. Living behind a closed door, passing time. They've given up because it's all too much. They could have been doctors, they could have been scientists, they could have contributed towards a better future for countless others.

We as adults have such a huge responsibility to the children of the future. Not just by what we do, but by the things that we don't. We need to protect the planet so that our children may live. We need to share our wisdom so that they may make better choices. We need to stop thinking so much about ourselves and our needs. Give up the vanity, the self importance, the self indulgence!

I feel a little frustrated to be saying these things, yet having no real answers. No real solution. Yet another reminder of how insignificant my life can be.