Akiko Abe has barely seen her 25-year-old son in six years, yet they live in the same small house. He leaves his room only when he's sure his parents are out or asleep, she said. She can tell when he has used the kitchen, and she knows he goes to the living room to watch television and use the computer at night.

    阿部秋子盡管與兒子同住在一間小房子里，六年來，他只在父母外出或者睡覺的時候才出門。她只知道他什么時候用過廚房，還知道他在客廳看過電視，在晚上使用過電腦，可是她卻沒能和自己25歲的兒子見上幾次面。

    She has waited patiently for him to tire of his isolation, sometimes standing outside his door and talking, to herself as much as to him. But, afraid that many more years would pass like this, she finally approached an organization that works with shut-ins by making home visits. "It will be difficult, because he won't open his door," she said quietly.

    她耐心地等待著有一天兒子終于會厭煩這種自我封閉，有時她就站在他的門口說話，既是對他說也是對自己說。但是她很害怕再過上幾年這樣的日子，于是她終于向一家自閉癥患者援助中心求助，這個組織可以提供家訪服務。“這可能會很麻煩，因為他不愿意開門，”她小聲地說道。

    As many as a million Japanese -- most of them young men -- are considered shut-ins, either literally cloistered in their rooms or refusing to work and avoiding all social contact for periods ranging from six months to more than 10 years. Forty-one percent live reclusively for one to five years, according to a government survey. Some shut-ins suffer from such illnesses as depression, agoraphobia or schizophrenia. But experts say the vast majority shut themselves up at home for six months or more without showing any other signs of neurological or psychiatric disorder. The seriousness of the problem has increased dramatically over the past decade as Japan's economy has slid into recession, bringing record unemployment rates and little job security as companies restructure or go bankrupt.

    日本有將近一百萬人患有自閉癥，其中大多數是年輕人。他們把自己幽禁在房間里，不愿意去工作，把自己完全與外界隔離開來，少則半年，多的超過10年。根據一項政府調查表明，41%的患者把自己一人關禁起來一到五年不等。一些自閉者患有沮喪、曠野恐懼或者精神分裂等癥狀。但是專家們表示，大多數的自閉病人在呆在家里半年或更長的時間里，都沒有出現任何神經或精神上的失調癥狀。隨著日本的經濟開始走下坡路，經濟蕭條導致了居高不下的失業率，而由于公司重組或者破產員工的飯碗也是朝不保夕，自閉現象在過去十年里也變得更加嚴重。

    Psychologists and other mental health experts here say that Japan has the biggest problem of this type in the world, and that it is growing. They give a long list of reasons why young men are dropping out of society, including a declining birthrate, which means there are more families with only one son on whom they place all their hopes in this patrilineal society. Also, boys grow up without male role models because their fathers are working all the time. Psychologists also cite Japan's "culture of shame," which makes people fear how they're perceived if they have a problem fitting in. Japan's wealth makes it possible for people to cut themselves off from society. Young adults live at home much longer than they do in the United States, traditionally until marriage. Teens and adults who drop out of school or leave work are simply supported by their parents.

    心理學家和心理健康專家們都一致認為自閉現象在日本尤其嚴重，并且有增長的趨勢。他們列出了一大串的理由來解釋為什么年輕人會幽居寡出，與世隔絕。這些理由包括低出生率，這表明在這個父系社會里，越來越多的家庭只有一個孩子，家長們把他們所有的希望都寄托在這個孩子身上。同時，由于父親長時間在外工作，男孩在成長過程中缺乏可模仿的男性模范角色。心理學者同時指出日本文化中的羞恥感，在出現問題的時候，人們都害怕不能被社會所接納而極力隱瞞。日本的富有也使日本國民可以脫離社會生存。日本的年輕成人呆在家里的時間遠比美國人的長，傳統上他們在結了婚以后才自立門戶。對退學或失業的孩子，他們的父母完全有能力把他們養在家里。

    "When I was young, there was no question that you would have to go to work," said Abe, 61, who asked that her son, who refused to talk to a visitor, not be named. "Now, families have enough money so that the children don't need to find jobs right away." In an attempt to get their son to communicate with them, Abe and her husband have decided that from now on, they are not going to slip an envelope under his door with his '400 monthly allowance. Shut-ins -- 70 to 80 percent of whom are men -- often sleep much of the day and are up all night, watching television, using the Internet and popping out to the 24-hour convenience stores that are located in most neighborhoods and sell all kinds of microwaveable packaged meals. Japan's convenience store culture caters to the solitary life -- providing everything for the person eating alone, living alone.

    “在我年輕的時候，我必須要出去找工作謀生”，現年61歲的阿部秋子說。她的兒子拒絕和來訪者交談，她請求不要把她兒子的名字寫出來，“現在，每家每戶都有足夠的錢，他們的子女也不必急著去找工作。”嘗試著讓他們的兒子以后和他們進行交流，阿部秋子夫婦倆決定停止兒子每月400美金的零用錢，那還是夫婦倆用信封裝好從兒子的門縫里塞進去的。70%到80%的自閉癥患者是男性，他們經常晝伏夜出，白天就蒙頭大睡，晚上才出來活動，看電視、上網，或者跑到外面24小時營業的便利店。這些便利店在每個街區都有，可以提供各式各樣的速食食品，只要放進微波爐烤一烤就可以吃。日本的便利店文化迎合了獨居生活的需要——里面的東西可以滿足一個人獨吃獨住的一切需求。

    "In Japan, it's easy for anybody to live with walls around themselves," said Seiei Muto of the Tokyo Mental Health Academy. "And with the number of children declining, you play alone, eat alone, study alone."

    “在日本，人們很容易生活在自己修筑的墻里面，孤獨地生活著”，東京精神健康研究所的武藤清英說，“隨著兄弟姐妹數量的減少，你就自然成了孤家寡人，你只好一個人玩，一個人吃，一個人學習。”武藤清英和一些精神康復的工作人員還談到了自閉現象的其他成因，比如說交流能力的匱乏，日本城市里人們彼此距離的疏遠，及集體合作精神的崩潰等。

    Muto and other mental health workers talk about the decline of communication skills, the increasing anonymity of urban Japan and the collapse of a cooperative society. "If a child is walking down the street, it would be rare for someone to ask the child, 'Where are you going?' " Muto said. Others say the problem has deep historical and cultural roots. "Japan is a rich country, but we have no identity, no confidence, no ability to communicate with others," said Tadashi Yamazoe, a professor of clinical psychology at Kyoto Gakuen University. "Japanese have a passive personality." But most people say it is a modern phenomenon, evidence of a great generation gap between those who built Japan's postwar economic success, and their children, who cannot expect lifetime employment in today's weak economy and say they do not want it anyway.

    “如果一個小孩在街道上游蕩，幾乎沒有路人會上去問他'你要去哪里呀？'”武藤清英說。但也有人認為這個問題有著深遠的歷史與文化根源。“日本是個富裕的國家，但是我們卻有身份危機，我們缺乏自信，不懂與他人交流”，東京學園大學的臨床心理學教授山添忠說，“日本人的性格都很消極被動。”但是大多數的人認為這只是個現代病，證明兩代人之間已經有了一道無法逾越的鴻溝，與親手締造戰后日本經濟繁榮的父輩相比，他們的子女根本不指望能在經濟疲軟的今天找到鐵飯碗，他們甚至不在乎有沒有工作。

    "In Japan there has been only one path, and today an increasing number of people are not on it," said Noki Futagami, who began the nonprofit New Start Foundation to work with shut-ins. "It's easy to say that academic background is not everything. But the parents cannot suggest another path because they don't know one." The existence of large numbers of shut-ins in many ways encapsulates the social problems of modern Japan and the wrenching period it is now going through. The Japanese word for the phenomenon -- hikikomori -- translates as withdrawal, and it is becoming increasingly familiar. It is the subject of television documentaries and newspaper and magazine articles.

    “在日本只有一條路可以走，可現在越來越多的人都不在這條路上走，”二神軒這樣說道，他創辦了新生基金會，一個幫助自閉癥患者的非贏利機構，“大家都說學歷背景其實并不重要，說起來很容易，可是家長們又不能提出其他更好的出路。”自閉現象的流行其實濃縮了日本的很多社會問題，日本經濟的不景氣也使這個問題顯得特別尖銳。日語把這現象稱為閉居，翻譯過來就是遁世。這個詞現在在日本很流行，常在電視、報紙和雜志等媒體中報道。

    Many adult shut-ins start as school dropouts. For a country obsessed with education, there is a surprisingly high number of dropouts. A record 134,000 elementary and junior high students were absent from school for at least 30 straight days during the 2000-01 school year, more than twice the number 10 years ago.

    很多成年人的自閉首先從退學開始。對極端重視教育的日本來說，日本的輟學率也是相當驚人。日本中小學在2000年度就有134,000人次曠課一個月以上，這個數字是10年前的兩倍多。

    Abe said her son's school years were normal, but in high school he failed the university entrance exam. That is not unusual; most who fail study for another year and try again. Abe's son said he was going to study on his own instead of enrolling in a cram school, and that began his withdrawal.

    The family has tried to keep the problem hidden, not even talking about it to relatives, much less neighbors.

    阿部秋子說她兒子在學校的表現還算正常，但在高中升大學的考試中考砸了。這本來也不是很出奇的事情，大多數失敗的考生都會復讀一年再考一次。阿部秋子的兒子說他寧愿自習也不愿意參加備考班，從此他就開始了遁世。夫婦倆試圖掩蓋這件事情，從沒跟親戚們講起，鄰居們也自然無從得知。但是二神軒說，這就意味著這個家庭也把自己封閉起來，這只會使問題惡化。

    But Futagami said this means the family is shutting itself in as well, making the problem worse. "There are things parents can and cannot do," he said. "They should be more open and get help from others, nurture social ties. I regard this as an illness stemming from society. Nobody helps these people, so they accumulate." In a few recent cases, socially withdrawn young men have committed shocking crimes, including a 27-year-old who kidnapped a 9-year-old girl in 1990 and kept her in his room for nine years. His mother, who lived downstairs, was never permitted to enter his room.

    “處理這些問題有些是家長們可以做的，有些卻是不能做的，”他說，“他們應該更加開放，從外界尋求幫助，培養社會關系。我認為這是由于社會弊端在作怪，沒有人愿意幫助這些人，所以這些人的人數也隨之增長。”近期的一些例子中，遁離社會的年輕人犯下了令人發指的罪行，其中有一個27歲的男子，于1990年綁架了個年僅9歲的小女孩，然后把她困在自己房間里長達9年之久。而住在樓下的母親卻從來不容許進入他的房間。

    "In America, the child's room belongs to the parents and is seen as being rented out to the kid," noted one of the actors appearing in a new play on shut-ins. "The child can be displaced for guests." This is a remarkable concept in Japan, where the norm is that teens or young adults can forbid their parents from entering their rooms.

    “在美國，孩子的房間是父母的財產，他們就好像把房間租給孩子一般，”一位演員這樣說到，他剛參加了一部反映自閉現象的戲劇演出，“當有客人來時，小孩的房間可以準做客房。”而在日本，青少年和年輕成年人完全可以把父母趕出他們的房間，這在日本已經是個深入人心的觀念。

    As the problem gets more national attention, parent support groups, counseling centers and mental health clinics have geared up to help families. Home visits over the course of months and sometimes years bring many people out of their rooms. But finding a job after having spent several years as a shut-in is extremely difficult. To provide work experience, Futagami's New Start organization runs a welfare center for the elderly, a restaurant and coffee shop.

    這個問題越來越引起全國的關注，家長援助組織、咨詢中心和心理健康醫療所等機構組織了各種活動援助那些家庭。幾個月甚至幾年的家訪，他們終于使很多患者帶出了他們的家門。但是，自閉癥患者在閑置多年后再繼續找工作會變得特別困難。為了給他們提供工作經歷，二神軒的新生基金會開了一個老人福利中心、一家餐館和咖啡店。

    Takeshi Watanabe, a counselor with the Tokyo Mental Health Academy, and Yasutaka Masuko, 28, seem like brothers. For 10 years Watanabe visited Masuko once a week at the home Masuko refused to leave. Masuko said he doesn't remember anything specific causing him to drop out of school during his second year of junior high. "Maybe I was feeling pressure," he said. For a while he became physically ill when people came to see him.

    渡邊武是東京精神健康研究院的顧問，他與28歲的康隆雅子看上去象是兄弟一般。十年來，渡邊武每周對康隆雅子進行一次家訪，而康隆雅子卻不肯離開自己的家門。康隆雅子回憶說，他其實記不清是哪件具體的事情讓他在初二時退學。“也許是我感到壓力吧，”他說。在一段時間里，只要有人來看他，他就會覺得渾身不舒服。

    But Watanabe's steady visits, their shared interest in music and eventually Masuko's purchase of a computer slowly convinced Masuko that he could go out. The turning point was soccer. He wanted so badly to go to the games of his favorite team -- an interest encouraged by Watanabe -- that he bought a season ticket, and before the first game practiced going outside.

    渡邊武持之以恒的家訪發現倆人在音樂方面有共同的愛好，最終康隆雅子買下了一臺電腦，而康隆雅子也慢慢地被說服，他其實是可以出去面對的。轉折點是一場足球比賽。康隆雅子非常想看一場他喜愛球隊的比賽，渡邊武也一直鼓勵他喜歡足球運動，他還買下了整個賽季的球票，在賽季開始前他們練習一起走出家門。

    "For night games I went early in the morning to get a good seat," he said. "I made friends because I was in the same place every game." Masuko has taken other big steps. He got his high school degree through a correspondence course and is now enrolled at Nihon University, majoring in philosophy and education. He said there are many other former shut-ins there, and they often talk. He also found a part-time job at a loan collection company. An understanding society is critical to dealing with the problem, Watanabe said. The mental health clinic in a Tokyo suburb where he works has cultivated about a dozen business establishments in the immediate neighborhood, where they have introduced themselves and the young men who come by. "We wanted them to understand we are not a cult," Watanabe said. At the bike shop, coffee shop and 7-Eleven, people started to talk to them, started to say, "Hi, how's it going?" They got emotional support from the neighborhood and some shopkeepers hired them to work two to three hours per week, he explained. "Many people feel nostalgic about Japanese traditions and the warmth that is harder to find today," Watanabe said.

    “比賽在晚上舉行，我早上就去了，這樣就能占個好位置，”他說，“由于我每次都坐在同一個位置上，我還結交了一些朋友。”康隆雅子在其他方面也取得了很大的進步，他通過函授課程獲得了高中學歷，現在已被日本大學錄取，所學的專業是哲學與教育。他說在這里還有很多以前的自閉癥患者，他們經常一起交流。他同時還在一家商賬追收公司找到了一份兼職。渡邊武說，一個理解寬容的社會對這個問題的處理是很重要的。他在東京郊外的那家精神健康診所已經在周邊地區開了十幾家的店鋪，他們向人們介紹自己和在店里工作的前自閉癥患者。“我們要讓他們明白我們并不是什么邪教組織，”渡邊武說。在自行車店、咖啡店和7-11連鎖店里，人們開始跟他們交談，開始會問，“嘿，最近怎么樣啊？”他們得到了鄰居們的精神支持，一些店主還雇傭他們在店里每周工作2到3小時，他解釋說。“大家都很懷念日本過去的傳統，而過去人與人間的溫情現在也很難找到了！”渡邊武說道。