Japanese father arrested for keeping son in cage for 20 years
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43685094

Another news story about a parent imprisoning a child. These stories always make me wonder how many others are out there in awful conditions undiscovered. What posses someone, particularly a parent, to do that to another human being?

omg that's horrendous

His excuse doesn't make sense either. If you have a family member with disabilities that are truly unmanageable, then as hard as it would be, you would throw your hands up and say "I can't do this" and hand them over to welfare services LONG before... Locking them in a ****ing tiny cage :umm2:.

:clap1:

:(

That's definitely a twist on Japanese Anime.:joker:

It's truly awful though, how on Earth did he get away with it for so long?

What a terrible 'life' for that person,better off dead than living like that,poor soul,the parent can't be all there either to do that, the boy was probably just being an angry teenager.

I think you have to appreciate Japanese culture to understand why this can occur, i expect the man would be trying to save face and honour and its a different world their in terms of how they view disability etc

You cant just think about it from a UK pov

And this happens an awful lot in China for example

I was going to say that, Japan has a very "honour based" society and that may well play into this. I don't think it's so much that it would be seen as shameful to have a disabled family member... But stoicism and the ability to cope with stress / challenge is highly valued. So if someone is NOT coping, they might consider it dishonourable to ask for help or to just give up.

(That's also a big part of the high suicide rate; its seen as more honourable to end it than to admit to mental health struggles and ask for help)

That said, it still doesn't excuse it nor does it explain locking him in a painfully small cage, rather than just in a bedroom or something.

Indeed

I always locked my 3 in a good sized wooden cage where they could stand up in

Oh my Good God. Anything like this just makes me ill. So awful.

They do generally treat it as such. My friend took counseling partially to alleviate the anxiety of his stress levels (as well as help others)... he easily goes against the grain, as he is very empathetic as a person, takes things to heart very easily. That's one reason why I think he took to American culture (when we were originally exchanging culture many yeras ago), as it was an unexpected outlet for those feelings. Mental health awareness isn't really a thing there as much... I don't think it's a this or that sort of deal as much as their individual identity comes from your worth to the group, not from your individual qualities. I wouldn't say it is an un-empathetic culture though... far from it, but dealing with the Japanese can be very socially awkward (for a Westerner) at times... I actually have a grammar book specifically for conveying and communicating emotions in Japanese and how to interpret vague response because everything is so delicate and nuanced. (and also what is maybe not considered "normal" or appropriate...)