Man dies in fire at Kamakura residence
KANAGAWA —
A 27-year-old resident of Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, died Sunday after apparently setting fire to his house, police said Monday. According to a TBS report, the man’s 59-year-old father, who is unemployed, dialed the police emergency number at 9:20 a.m. and told an operator that his son had set fire to their house.
Firefighters got the blaze under control within an hour, but the victim’s room on the second floor was apparently incinerated. Preliminary reports show the man died from smoke inhalation.
The man’s father escaped the house unharmed. The father told police his son was a shut-in who had rarely left his second-floor room for the last 10 years, according to the TBS report.
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1
jj1980
Seems like another selfish suicide act. Glad the father made it out alive. To bad he had lost so much. His house, belongings, and more importantly loosing his son whom was ill. Talk about being at your all time low.
1
Brainiac
It's hard to believe someone could rarely leave their room over a 10-year period.
1
bogva
Very surprised to hear about shut-in person in Kamakura! People who love the sea and surfing do everything possible to start living there. Perfect place if you have ways to support your living as it is not cheap either.
0
miamum
Very sad, he was obviously a hikikomori. We dont hear so much about these people in the media these days, but they must still exist. I wonder what if anythign is being done to help them.
-1
Skeptical Hippo
What's a hikikomori, miamum?
1
miamum
Its a term given to these individuals (mostly young men although it does affect women too) who for whatever reason refuse to go out of the house. There have been cases where they have barricaded themselves in one room, for example the kitchen. If they are of school age they refuse to go to school (i think the expression for those is "Futoukou")and it goes from there. Sometimes bullying at school starts as a root cause but sometimes there is no evidence of bullying. It is almost like they drop out of society altogether.
Much was made of it in the media a few years ago, there were some TV documentaries and things but it has all gone quiet recently. A lot of families just dont know what to do about it. They cant/dont/wont get professional help for them. One family I saw, rather than addressing the problem, just had a new kitchen built on the side of their house when their hikikomori son just took over the kitchen!!!
People just seem to carry on as if nothing is happening and pretend to the outside world that everything is fine. They sort of live their lives "around" the hikikomori family member. Pretty sad, really.
0
miamum
Here is a link to more info: wikipedia has quite a good explanation of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori
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