Stress factors and mechanisms to coping in modern Japan

2.3 Hikikomori

In the case when conformity and aggression are not capable to remove the accumulated stress, an alternative solution to such problem becomes an escape attempt through the withdrawal from the hostile environment.

The embryo of this phenomenon in Japan appeared in the form of mass refusal by students from primary and secondary schools, known as futoko.

Futoko may be defined as the latest phenomenon of Japanese society: even though it had already been observed in middle of 1970s, a noticeable growth in recorded cases occurred only at the beginning of 1990s, reaching the peak of activity in the first decade of XXI century.•¶•”‰ИЉwЏИ. Ћ™“¶ђ¶“k‚М–в‘иЌs“®“™ђ¶“kЋw“±Џг‚МЏ”–в‘и‚ЙЉЦ‚·‚й’ІЌё. (Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The study of the Pupils Issues). URL: http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa01/shidou/1267646.htm According to the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, anxiety (26.5%) was stated as the main reason for such school refusal, along with apathy (24.4%) and relationship problems with friends (14.7%). In addition, ijime had no particular influence on the behavior of futoko pupils (2%). Ibidem.

This statistic allows to admit that the current abrupt changes of the Japanese society had impact not only on adults but also on children who at the end of XX century were subjected to the excessive psychological pressure. Moreover, the data supports the suggestion that ijime in its mild form has no destructive impact, as it has become a key reason to avoid school only for a small group of respondents.

However, an attempt to avoid school through futoko may be considered as the initial stage of alienation from society, leading to the condition of hikikomori (‚Р ‚« ‚± ‚а ‚и). Broadly, this term refers to a social retreat, an attempt to limit ties with the outside world, to get away from various group activities, as well as a person in such condition. Jeff Kingston. Crucial Issues in Contemporary Japan. - Routledge, 2013. P. 230. Yet, the concrete content of this concept has not yet been defined due to certain cruxes.

Firstly, it is unclear what exactly causes hikikomori effect. Some researchers consider the problem from the position of medical pathologies, defining it as a manifestation of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and autism. Mental Health: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional: 2013 Edition. - Scholarly Editions, 2013. P. 310. Others believe that in the conditions of the "post-bubble" Japan, many young people see little prospects for their future and become hikikomori as an act of deliberate resistance to family and society, thereby exposing the social side of the issue. The New York Times. Shutting Themselves In. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15japanese.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Secondly, there is no consensus on what kind of behavior pattern characterizes hikikomori, as some of the regarded individuals spent all of their time in their private rooms, while others were capable to go out for a walk, visit libraries, dine at cafes, etc. Ќ‚’Л—Y‰о.‚Р‚«‚±‚а‚йЋбЋТ‚Ѕ‚ї‚МђS‚Н(Koitsuke Usuke. The Psychology of Young Hikikomori). - “аЉt•{Љй‰ж•ЄђН€П€х‚©‚з‚МѓRѓЃѓ“ѓg , 2012. P. 26. Accordingly, the difficulty in definition leads to the difficulty in estimations (there are various data estimations from 50 thousand to 1 million 200 thousand detected hikikomori). Marc Hairston. A Cocoon with a View: Hikikomori, Otaku and Welcome to the NHK. - Mechademia, vol. 5, 2010. P. 312.

In order to sort out this issue it is necessary to consider the results of the 2010 research on hikikomori by the Cabinet of Japan. The subjects of the research were 5 thousand individuals aged from 15 to 39 years who experienced social escapism. “аЉt•{. ‚Р‚«‚±‚а‚и‚ЙЉЦ‚·‚йЋА‘Ф’ІЌё (Cabinet of Japan. The Study of Hikikomori Issues). URL: http://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/kenkyu/hikikomori/pdf_gaiyo_index.html

Unlike ordinary people (people engaged in work or studies who support regular communication with others and do not have problems with leaving their private spheres), in the school years hikikomori frequently felt the need to restrain themselves (56%). In other words, for them there was a bigger number of situations when the demand for self-expression and behaving in one's favorable way was neglected in order to compromise with the surrounding reality. Probably, these tactics could have served as a ground for developing special coping mechanism, based on the escapism, self-restrain and withdrawal from the expression of feelings. It should not be assumed that these children were sociopaths and renegades from the very childhood, as more than half of them had good relationships with their classmates. However, such communication often resulted in humiliation, therefore most of them preferred a solitary pastime, which was not peculiar to ordinary Japanese children (5.5%). Ibid. P.7.

The history of relationships with parents also provided contradictory data. On the one hand, hikikomori received emotional support in volumes commensurate with ordinary people. On the other, the need for self-restrain (32.7%) and the scale of parent control (18.8%) was relatively bigger. As a result, hikikomori perceived their family space as a safe place, yet simultaneously they could not fully express themselves and also experienced an excessive influence of parents on the process of their development to adulthood. Ibid. P.8.

The main reasons of evolving into hikikomori state mostly include social and work-related issues: the inability to get used to working conditions (24%) and difficulties in work search (20%). Problems with communication (11.9%) were not quite significant: the vast majority of hikikomori, even if they experienced the complexity in interaction with people, did not consider it as a key factor of transition to escapism. Futoko (11.9%) was also mentioned, therefore indicating the presence of connection between these two phenomena. In turn, a tiny fraction of transitions due to the failure at the exams (1.7%) demonstrated either a high educational capabilities of hikikomori or their good adaptation to the Japanese educational system. Ibid. P.13.

It was discovered that most of the time spent at home hikikomori devote to passive, speculative activities, equally dividing their attention among watching TV (68%), reading (67%), etc. However, only a small proportion of them (8.5%) tries to spend it on education. With huge reserves of personal time, hikikomori hardly practice self-improvement through training and self-developing, making little attempts to change their isolated condition. Ibid. P.11.

The survey about the sources of anxiety demonstrated the weak stress resistance of hikikomori. Practically each digit related to the amounts of stress experienced was twice as higher as among ordinary people. The main source of anxiety for hikikomori appeared to be the feeling of shame towards their parents (71,2%), whose expectations they did not managed to satisfy, along with the feeling of severe dependence to them and their benevolence. This was followed by the sadness of being separated from the group (53%), undervaluation of them by the others (50.8%) and the personal feelings of bitterness in life (47.5%). Another category of anxiety causes was meeting with acquainted people (47,5%), providing that hikikomori lowly evaluate themselves in comparison with another individuals and try to keep their condition in secret. Ibid. P.18.

Thus, this research produced the social base beneath the hikikomori phenomenon rather than a pathological one. Hikikomori did not demonstrate sociopathic tendencies in their childhood, no vivid communication issues were spotted in terms of relations with other children. Nevertheless, due to the negative factors from school and home, they were tended to self-restrain more than other children (even though Japanese in total are very prone to self-restrain), that in some way could have accustomed them to escapism and pushed it to the status of most favorable coping mechanism. Consequently, this gave birth to a number of more serious issues, including inability to adapt to work, troubles with work search, ongoing minimization of communication with the surrounding world and, as a result, the solid state of reclusion. Being in the state of isolation from direct social contacts, hikikomori do not tent to improve their conditions, have low self-esteem regarding probability to return to active social life and suffer from grave shame caused by their parents. This connection between the notion of shame and the role of parents may be the key factor causing hikikomori effect.

Suwa and Suziki in their research also maintain the idea that the state of hikikomori differs from the medical pathology, experiencing little relation to such malfunctions as medical depression or schizophrenia. In their research they are trying to explain why hikikomori are not able to adapt to social life and, which may be even more important, do not tend to improve their conditions and regard their isolated state passively, with practically no attempts to return to the broad social communication. M. Suwa, K. Suzuki. The phenomenon of hikikomori (social withdrawal) and the socio-cultural situation in Japan today. - Journal of Psychopathology, vol. 19, 2013. P. 194-195.

According to them, most of the individual who lately transited to the condition of hikikomori followed a so-called “ideal path”, a number of existential demands fulfilling which they could had achieved a self-satisfaction. Yet this path is not based on their own aspirations, rather on the ones proposed by their parents. This hypothesis corresponds with the findings by the Cabinet of Japan that discovered an excessive parent control in the hikikomori families (18,6%). Cabinet of Japan. Op.cit. P.8. In such families parents impose their viewpoint of life's goals to their children, with little consideration about whether or not they correspond with the infants' ones. Thus it is possible to claim that the reason of the inordinate scale of self-control in the early lifetime of the hikikomori persons primary derives not from school, but from family environment, where children faced a necessity to hold back in order not to confront with their parents. As a result, hikikomori do not actually have their own will and desire to follow such “ideal path”, and they also lack an ability to express themselves so that a possible correction of this path and even the revision of values could have been achieved. M. Suwa, K. Suzuki. Op.cit. P. 194-195.

Furthermore, following parent's “ideal path” with no particular aspirations hikikomori find it difficult to fit into the work environment, appear to show little productivity and originality, lack an ability to cope with the work stress and, as a result, promptly lose their jobs. Inability to adapt to work life (24%) therefore was named as a key reason of the transition to the hikikomori, Cabinet of Japan. Op.cit. P. 13. yet the issue was not in the work itself, but rather in the unmotivated attitude to it. In this situation a primal, objective form of motivation, i.e. the necessity to work in order to gain resources for life appear not to be quite topical for hikikomori, as in their families elderly parents always pay for financial demands of their adult children. Moreover, such parents also invest emotionally into their children, pushing them to maintain the “ideal path” even when they become completely isolated form the society. M. Suwa, K. Suzuki. Op.cit. P. 194-195.

As a result, in a group based Japanese society hikikomori represent an outstanding phenomenon, nearly a cultural abnormality. In a society where individuals are socialized to perceive themselves practically through the notion of collective, hikikomori neglect most communication with others and withdrawal from the common sphere to the most private sphere possible. Paradoxically, this abnormal behavioral pattern derives from the pillar Japanese concept, the concept of self-restrain, postulated through the family level. There is no particular scientific data on this topic, but it is possible that there is a connection between economic turbulences of 1990s and the introduction of hikikomori. Perhaps, this issue demonstrates not only the clash between work oriented parents and nihilistic children, but also a rapture in the worldview of the generations before and after the Bubble collapse. Pre-Bubble generation may still consider long life employment as a normality, imposing this viewpoint on post-Bubble generation, while their children cannot bring this belief to realization because of Japanese economic troubles. Nevertheless, the practice of self-restrain accustoms hikikomori to cope with stress in the form of the extreme escapism, spreading this mechanism of stress reducing to the whole life span of this Japanese individuals. Additionally, this mechanism of coping produces a massive side effect: though hikikomori do escape from their stress issues, predominantly in the sphere of work, lately they fall to the subjective level of emotional indisposition, occupied by the low self-esteem, passivity and shame of themselves towards others.

2.4 Amae

The possible opposite to the hikikomori mechanism of coping may be the amae (ЉГ‚¦) mechanism. Amae embodies a complicated duplex nature that postulates itself through the notions of intimacy and dependence. According to Doi who was a pioneer of scientific study of amae, this concept presupposes reliance on the expected benevolence of the other and the successive dependence on it. Takeo Doi. Amae: A key concept for understanding Japanese personality structure. - University of Hawaii Press, 1974. P. 145.

Being grounded on the feeling of dependence amae does not reject the individual autonomy. Fully relying on the good will and benevolence of the other, individual simultaneously gains an opportunity to satisfy personal needs and legitimately act from the position of personal and not collective interests. In other words, amae appears to be a complicated phenomenon, the content of which is not exhausted by the motif of dependence. Takei Sugiyama Lebra. The Japanese Self in Cultural Logic. - University of Hawaii Press, 2004. P. 19. The concrete example of how belonging and autonomy co-exist in amae, thus helping to cope with stress, will be demonstrated below.

The process of inception of individual in the structure of amae begins at the stage of the primal socialization, through the relations between mother and infant. The study by Rothbaum that regarded the issues of infant Japanese socialization discovered that Japanese mothers in comparison with US ones maintain an extremely intimate relation with their children. Rothbaum suggests that Japanese mothers tend to satisfy the needs of their children even before they are expressed, by this blurring the border between the personality of the mother and the personality of the child. Fred Rothbaum. The Development of Close Relationships in Japan and the United States. - Child Development, Vol. 71, No. 5, September/October 2000. P. 1126. Such tendency that results in the construction of the amae is manifested through various aspects.

From the linguistic viewpoint, the speech of US mothers in a greater extent operates to ease the process of child's adaptation to the surrounding world, while Japanese mothers communicate with their infants predominantly to reinforce psychological connection with them. The study by Fernald and Morikava, devoted to the interactions of US and Japanese mothers with their offspring in the age between 6 and 18 months confirmed this distinction. US mothers much lesser than Japanese ones employ the childish analogies of words while designating the notions (for example, «doggy» instead of «dog», «wanwan» instead of «inu» that also means «dog»). Moreover, onomatopoeic expressions (i.e. «wanwan» that simulates the barking of dog) occupy more than a half (52%) of Japanese mothers' lexicon in communicating with children, while US mothers practically do not use them. Furthermore, Japanese mothers tend to pronounce meaningless expressions that do not carry the conceptual load more frequently than US ones.Anne Fernald, Hiromi Morikawa. Common Themes and Cultural Variations in Japanese and American Mothers' Speech to Infants. - Child Development, Vol. 64, No.3, 1993. P. 645-647.

According to Rothbaum, the orientation on the informative part of the speech of the US mothers prepares a child to be established as an autonomous individual, capable of comprehensive self-expression and cognition of the world beneath the boundaries of the maternal space. On the contrary, childish and less informative model of speaking of Japanese mothers emphasizes that the offspring is not fully trained to interact with other people. As a result, Japanese children from the first stage of socialization possess the unique manner of self-expression constructed by their mothers, which is less suitable for contacts with outsiders. This strengthens the relationship with the mother and delays the introduction to the wider circles of communication. Fred Rothbaum. Op.cit. P. 1127.

From the viewpoint of physical intimacy, no practical differences between the behavioral patterns of US and Japanese mothers were revealed: both groups are actively trying to remind of their presence through hugging, kissing, touching, and other manifestations of proximity. Ibidem. However, the difference is embedded not in the nature of this intensions, but in their periodicity. Japanese mothers are trying to maintain the physical contact on the constant base, transporting their children with the use of body tied backpacks, while US mother tend to apply a rather distanced tool of transporting similar to baby carriages. Marquerite Barrett. The Social Environments of Early Infancy in Japan and the United States. - Early Development and Parenting, Vol. 2, 1993. P. 51-64. Japanese mothers also struggle to get a full access to their children even when they are sleeping, not leaving them in a separate bed, but spending a night together, due to which Japanese infants on the physical level continuously experience themselves as a part of a union, and quite rarely as a separate actor. Ibidem.

This unity provokes an opposite effect: Japanese children since the primal stage of socialization begin to fall into the severe dependence of the intimate presence of their mothers. The experiment by Ujie and Miyake which regarded the issues of child autonomy demonstrated that Japanese children faced the separation from their mothers in a more stressful way than their US counterparts. In this experiment 77% of Japanese children started to cry immediately when their mothers left them alone, leaving them in a room they were staying. Among US children this group did not exceed the digits of 45%. In addition, 62% of US children started to explore the room in order to find their mothers, while only 28% of Japanese infants behaved n the same way, and 51% of them were so emotionally devastated that did not try to explore the room even visibly. Ujie Tatsuo, Miyake Kazuo. Response to the Strange Situations in Japanese Infants. - Hokkaido University, 1985. P. 6-9. As a result, not only Japanese mothers feel a necessity of constant presence and contact with their children, but, as a consequence, Japanese children also experience this necessity as well, hardly coping with inability to fulfill their demand for proximity.

Therefore, already at the primal stage of socialization Japanese individuals possess a wide experience of both verbal and physical intimacy, gained through interactions with their mothers. The cessation of such interactions results in the generation of a massive influx of stress, thus Japanese individuals are highly dependent on the presence of intimate person in their private surroundings.

Consequently, the sharp necessity of the nearby presence of intimate person and the further dependence on such presence creates the foundation of amae, postulating this phenomenon on the adult life as well. As Morita admits, being generated through interactions between mother and child, amae, its behavioral patterns and vast set of demands may further be spread to all spheres of social life, including relationships within a company, between teacher and student, friends, lovers and spouses. ђX“cЃ@–ѕ.ЉГ‚¦‚ЖBelonging (Morita Akira. Amae and Belonging). -“Њ—m‘еЉwЃA“Њ—m–@ЉwЃA‘ж55ЉЄЃA‘ж3Ќ†ЃA2012ЃDP.113-127.

It is in the relationship between the beloved ones the operation of the coping mechanism amae becomes mostly evident. The study by Farrrer, executed in the categories of Sternberg's Triangular theory of love Jose Ashford, Craig LeCroy. Human Behavior in the Social Environment. - Cengage Learning, 2009. P. 497-498., produced information that in romantic relations or tsukiau (•t‚«Ќ‡‚¤) Japanese value most not sexuality or commitment to be together, but rather the feeling of intimacy. James Farrer. Emotional Expressions in Tsukiai. - Journal of Social and Personal relationships, Vol, 25, No. 1, 2008. P. 184. This preference is defined by the realities of Japanese culture: in it an excessive dependence on individuals and groups from the external circle of communication or soto (ЉO) as well as the public demonstration of individualistic, egoistic side of one's personality is commonly considered to be unacceptable. Alongside that in contemporary Japanese culture the proportions of private space or uchi (“а) continue to decrease. One of the symptoms of this tendency becomes the gradual destruction of Japanese family institution that not only frequently fails to facilitate the reduction of stress, but also appears to be the major source of frustration for Japanese youth. Aurelian Craiutu. Conversations with Tocqueville. - Lexington Books, 2009. P. 305. In this hostile conditions for many Japanese persons romantic relations tsukiau becomes one of the key tools to escape from stress, thus replacing the functions of traditional social institutions similar to the family. James Farrer. Op.cit. P.184.

Meanwhile amae represents the core element of tsukiau, providing the motif of emotional unity. According to surveys conducted by Farrer, the feeling of intimacy towards a partner and dependence on him, grounded in amae, forms a basis to regard the partner nearly as a family member. Ibid. P.178. In other words, by the means of amae Japanese individuals gain an opportunity to revive the destructed stress-reducing mechanisms of family institution and transport them into the framework of the romantic relations. While perceiving a partner as an imaginative family member, Japanese individual correlates such partner with the category of uchi, and, as a consequence, accepts to demonstrate the vulnerable and forbidden in the public life side of the personality.

The other significant feature of amae is not only providing opportunity to demonstrate the vulnerability of the individual, but also the contribution to the awareness by partner of the contradictive, egoistic side of individual's personality. This feature may be visible in the meaning of the verb «amayakasu», that derives from amae: to spoil, to cosset, to pamper. Steve Odin. Artistic Detachment in Japan and the West: Physic Distance in Comparative Aesthetics. - University of Hawaii Press, 2001. P. 164. In amae a person may legitimately behave as a «spoiled» child, considering that intimate interaction with a partner would be a sufficient provision for toleration of such behavior. In these conditions the partner is not only perceived as a trustful family member, but is penetrated to a deeper level of inner circle, where he or she concedes and even provokes the indulged partner's behavior that would be otherwise unacceptable in other social interactions. James Farrer. Op.cit. 178. This may be interpreted as a peculiar reproduction of the relations between mother and child, yet on the stage of adult life.

By the virtue of such «maternal» intimacy of the partner, amae provides conditions for Japanese individuals to temporary neglect the widespread social practice of «ki wo tsukeru» (‹C‚р‚В‚Ї‚й), that approximately means keeping one's face, as well as considering the thoughts of the others. Therefore, through amae individuals can focus on satisfaction of person emotional demands, long contained desires and ignore the needs of others without possible condemnation for such childishly selfish behavior. Ibidem.

Moreover, although amae is based on the feeling of dependence on the partner, this phenomenon can create an opposite effect, postulated through the legitimate control over the partner's actions and further satisfaction from the ability to execute this control. As Kumagai points out, when a person, operating within amae, is confident about unpunishably of his childish, egoistic behavior by the partner, the effect of amae may enlarge from the necessity to be dependent to the pleasure of control and the attempts of dominance over partner's life. Hisa A. Kumagai. The Hidden “I” in Amae. - Ethos, Vol. 14, No.3, 1986. P. 309. In other words, while knowing that the dependence on the partner's benevolence is developed enough, individual may start to impose own desires, even if the fulfillment of them would be problematic for the partner.

For example, being tired at the workplace, wife may call her husband and ask him to drive her home, even if she usually uses train and it is difficult for a husband to act as a chauffeur at this particular moment. Alongside this, a wife may realize that her demand is unsuitable for the husband, yet she may still express it deriving from two factors: husband's affection and, which is more important, the understanding of husband of how much his wife depends on him. Tara C. Marshall. Day-to-day Experience of Amae in Japanese Romantic Relationships. - Asian Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 1. P. 6-7. It should be admitted that such model of behavior once again revives the pattern of interaction between mother and child, where mother feels the infant dependence on her benevolence and tries to maximize the tenderness to child's desires.

Furthermore, the study by Marshall discovered that amae obtains a double side effect: not only those who expressed desires, but also the once who was trying to satisfy them experienced pleasure and deliverance from stress. This is achieved in a way that the receiving of emphasized inconvenience demands is perceived as a sign of intimacy in the relations, as a similar demand would never be expressed in the different social context. Tara C. Marshall. Op.cit. P. 19-20. This readiness of the husband to help his wife in an uncomfortable for him conditions is based on the belief that he appears to be a single person to whom she would dare to address this request and, therefore, her the most intimate person.

Undoubtedly, the will to dominate is presupposed to has its limits. Excessive pressure on the partner's personality and superfluous caprices may generate the feeling of omoi (Џd‚ў) or heaviness in the relations. James Farrer. Op.cit. P.181. On the other hand, if the balance between dependence and demands is complied, such relationship is not perceived as a burden, rather as a manifestation of affection, while both of the partners manage to gain the feeling of self-confidence, satisfaction and intimacy. Tara C. Marshall. Op.cit. P. 19-20.

As a result, amae may be defined as one of the most efficient mechanisms of coping with stress within the conditions of contemporary Japanese society and culture.

Amae possesses a complex dichotomy nature that is manifested through the categories of dependence and intimacy. Its basics are formed on the primary stage of socialization and generated through the interactions between mother and child. Japanese mothers maintain specific verbal and practically incessant physical contacts with their children, thus forming a powerful demand of presence of intimate person within the private circle of communication. Amae, on the stage of adult life, is the most visibly postulated in the form of romantic relationship, presupposing the notion of intimacy as the pillar aspect of Japanese concept of romance. The motif of mutual intimacy and dependence imposes to the partners the specific models of behavior. One of the partners may impersonate the role of the mother, thus accepting and legitimizing the childish, egoistic behavior of another partner, while such behavior may appear to be completely forbidden in the terms of more public level of social life. This legitimization rests on the severe dependence of the childish partner over the benevolence on the maternal partner. Alongside that, such dependence in the Japanese experience represents the mark of the high scale of intimacy and trust between the partners. Being aware of this, the maternal partner gains conviction about the scale of reliability of the relations with the childish partner. Thus, both participants in the amae mechanism manage to cope with stress through the categories of dependence and intimacy.

2.5 Ibasho

The mechanism of coping amae that operates by the means of tsukiau appears to be quite significant for Japanese individuals due to its vivid efficiency. Nevertheless, not all Japanese individuals enjoy an access to it. According to the research by Japanese national institute of population and social security, 61,4% of Japanese men and 49,5% of Japanese women do not maintain any kind of relations with the other sex, apart from business ones. National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. The Fourteenth Japanese National Fertility Survey. URL: http://www.ipss.go.jp/site-ad/index_english/nfs14/Nfs14_Couples_Eng.pdf Respectively, not only more than half of Japanese population is fenced from tsukiau, but even does not obtain an opportunity to generate this kind of interactions, forming a hedge from intimacy and, as a result, lack the ability to be involved into amae. Due to this such Japanese individuals are locked away from the fulfilment of their private interests and demands, cannot achieve the feeling of emotional intimacy within partner relations, thus are forced to explore other social institutions in order to discover the mechanism of stress reducing.

Alongside this, as Smith demonstrates, the observed scale of depression among those individuals who lack the feeling of emotional care from the intimate persons in Japanese society is disproportionally higher compare to ones who gain affection and attention of others. Wendy B. Smith. Youth Leaving Foster Care: A Developmental Relationship-Based Approach to Practice. - Oxford University Press, 2011. P. 219. Similar to this, the indexes of nine mental illness appeared to be increased within the group of Japanese individuals who experience the scarcity of constant emotional support. Ibidem. The lack of emotional support and the deficiency of presence of intimate person in the private circle of communication was also defined as a primal source of low self-esteem among unemployed Japanese youth that enforces their avulsion from the society. Tuukka Hannu Ilmari Toivonen. Japan's Emerging Youth Policy: Getting Young Adults Back to Work. - Routledge, 2013. P. 72-73. Therefore, the necessity of receiving the constant emotional care and support indicates an incisive requirement of Japanese individuals, the ignorance of which can lead to fundamental psychological maladies.

Moreover, as Lebra notices, Japanese individuals already at the linguistic level perceive themselves through the notions of collective and belonging. According to her, the word jibun (ЧФ·Ц) that represents the category of selfhood in the Japanese language may be interpreted as a possession of personal part within the common arrogation, a certain status within an enclosed group, where a person is treated not as an alien, but rather as an intimate actor and participant. Takei Sugiyama Lebra. Japanese Patterns of Behavior. - University of Hawaii Press, 1976. P. 67-69.

Therefore, a necessity for mechanism of coping that operates through the notions of care and belonging is introduces. Yet such mechanism, considering the low level of personal, interindividual intimacy in contemporary Japanese culture, should be executed on the collective, nearly special level of interactions. The coping mechanism ibasho (ѕУ€цЛщ) may be capable to satisfy this requirement.

The notion of ibasho enjoys various interpretations and modes of definition, nevertheless in all of them a topological aspect is observed. As designated by Kayama, ibasho embodies the features of both physical and psychological spaces, where an individual experiences calmness, safety and the conditions for informal and anxiety exempted communication with the others. Furthermore, ibasho, performing as a safe spot, formats a ground floor for struggling with daily hardships, as well as proposes an opportunity to freely leave and return to such spot when necessary. Misa Kayama, Wendy Haight. Disability and Development: A Case Study of Japanese Children at School. - Oxford University Press, 2013. P. 12-13.

The mechanisms of ibasho, similar to the mechanism of amae, is generated on the first stage of socialization, within the limits of family and birthplace. Despite the degradation of the family institution in Japan in recent decades as well as the perception of family relationships as a common source of emotional disorders among the Japanese youth, many survey respondents of the study by Bamba, devoted to the interpretation of ibasho concept, personified it with the concepts of family and birthplace. The study discovered that on the primal stage of socialization the space of family and home was associated with safety and calmness due to the care and nursing by the mother. Sachiko Bamba, Wendy L. Haight. Child Welfare and Development: A Japanese Case Study. - Cambridge University Press, 2011. P. 65-73. Moreover, the introduction of individual to ibasho also provided an impact on the adult life: according to one of the respondents, the presence of a safe spot in a child period of his life accompanied with a decent history of positive relationships with parents facilitated the development of self-confidence on the adult stage of socialization. In analogy to this, another respondent whose parents got divorced admitted the lack of ibasho related feelings in the past, due to which in the adult life he started to experience the communication issues and frequent psychological frustration. Ibidem.

Deriving from the fact that ibasho occupies a vital part of primary Japanese socialization, the lack of which can result in severe psychological maladies, many Japanese individuals tend to form the ibasho similar space in an adult life as well. Nevertheless, in the contemporary Japanese society and cultural, the traditional group and communication oriented institutions related to family and work environment are facing the process of transition and, in some sense, degradation, transforming from the source of self-confidence to the massive cause of emotional distress. Chie Nakane. Japanese Society. - University of California Press, 1972. P. 12-14. David Cantor, Edmund Ramsden. Stress, Shock and Adaptation in the Twentieth Century. - Boydell & Brewer, 2014. P. 222-223.Therefore, in contemporary Japan the tendency of constructing new social institutions the features of which can correspond with the peculiarities of ibasho may be observed.

Of the most evidential from these may be the Fureai Ibasho Network (¤Х¤м¤ў¤¤¤ОѕУ€цЛщҐНҐГҐИҐп©`ҐЇ) or “Ibasho for Communications”, located through all over the Japanese territory. ‚У‚к‚ ‚ў‚М‹ЏЏкЏЉѓlѓbѓgѓЏЃ[ѓN(Fureai Ibasho Network). URL: http://www.npo-genki.com/fureai/ Among its main characteristics may be spotted the significant absence of rules and artificial settings that could have regulated its activities. It employs no distinct limitation about the initialization of this ibasho participants: every particular individual without previous connections with ibasho members may legitimately be involved in it. By this Fureai Ibasho intends not to label its participants to the status of the closed arrogation. Thus it appears to be open for all the individuals concerned. In the similar way the actions and activities of this ibasho participants are not controlled, every individual is free to mind private business, there are no concrete directions about the forbidden side of such activities, as well as no planned schedule of the ibasho operations. Therefore, every participant of this ibasho gains an opportunity to fulfill private demands, if it does not cause disturbance to other participants. Ibidem.

As Allison argues, similar institutions create a basis for the generation of the new kind of social communications and interactions in Japan. Although the notion of collective and group along with the practice of separation from others according to the categories of uchi and soto remains primal for Japanese society, institutions similar to Fureai Ibasho provide its participants the absence of admonition for group involvement, therefore eliminating the strata of foreign individuals. Anne Allison. Ordinary Refugees: Social Precarity and Soul in the 21st Century Japan. - Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 85, No. 2, 2012. P. 345-370. By these means a potential frustration of meeting an alien individual or becoming one is demolished. In addition, the abolition of regulations' control over the individual's actions may be considered as a proclamation of behavioral freedom that happens to be quite a seldom element of current Japanese public life. Thus, in similar social institutions the group's pressure over the individual's actions and the restrictions through the application of rules are lowered, minimizing a possible accumulation of stress. Respectively, the role of individual's freedom of actions is appreciated, as well as the dislocation of the emphasis from collective to individual needs. Ibidem.

However, the individualistic nature of such institutions does not result in estrangement the of participants from each other. On the contrary, the main aim of this institution was stated as the generating of the unity atmosphere with the liquidation of the grief of being alone. Without the execution of mutual care such place cannot manage to operate as the mechanism of stress reduction, as the feeling of maintenance from the intimate persons represents the crucial emotional necessity of Japanese individuals. According to Fureai Ibasho, the satisfaction of such necessity results not only in the enforcement of self-esteem, but also in the expressing the reality of own existing. ‚У‚к‚ ‚ў‚М‹ЏЏкЏЉѓlѓbѓgѓЏЃ[ѓN. Op.cit. URL: http://www.npo-genki.com/fureai/ Similar statement may be employed as an evidence that Japanese individuals perceive themselves and their existence through the notions of group and belonging. In this context such institution although omitting the stated schedule of meetings or formulated rules about the nature of participation, are capable of creating a certain realm of community, where the notions of common and private manage to co-exist and complement each other. Ibidem.

Nevertheless, apart from ibasho that construct the feeling of natural intimacy within its participants and maintain the feeling of belonging, in the post-Bubble generation of such institutions, a new wave was introduced, that focuses on coping with stress not by the means of nursing the intimacy, but through the simulation of it. They may be characterized as the fictitious coping mechanisms, because they only form a temporary illusion of relaxation, without a factual process of stress reduction.

This category of fictitious ibasho may include the newly opened network of Japanese cafes named Soine Sitsu (ѓ\ѓCѓlЋє). ѓ\ѓCѓlЋє (Soine Sitsu). URL: http://soine-sinjuku.net/ The term soine represents the action of cuddling with someone and the process of mutual sleep in the same location. Soine Sitsu in the boundaries of petite and comfort area gave an opportunity to its customers to share a bed with a woman. Yet, in spite of the obvious erotic content of this service, any attempts or intentions that can result into the sexual intercourse are forbidden. The Independent. Japan's first `cuddle cafй' opens. October 2, 2012. URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iv-drip/japans-first-cuddle-cafe-opens-only-24-to-sleep-with-a-girl-8193661.html

In other words, the clients of this social institution regard its service as a tool for satisfaction of the emotional, and not sexual demand. This suggestion is proven by the list of services available in this institution: all of them in different ways simulate the feeling of belonging and intimacy between the closely connected people. For example, the hostess of this cafй may hug the client or put her head over his palm and sleep in this position for a couple of minutes. Although such actions can anyhow imply the romantic motifs as they are executed through touching that may cause a sexual arouse. Therefore, another outstanding feature of Soine Sitsu should be emphasized, specifically the service in which the hostess glances intently at the eyes of a client for a temporary time. Japan Today. Japan's first `cuddle cafй' lets you sleep with a stranger for Y6,000 for an hour. October 3, 2012. URL: http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japans-first-cuddle-cafe-lets-you-sleep-with-a-stranger-for-y6000-an-hour

According to Mortensen, the visual contact, its active implication represents the symbols of the tight mutual intimacy and emotional support between the partners. C. David Mortensen. Communication Theory. - Transaction Publishers, 2011. P. 264-265. Therefore, the ability to maintain the visual contact within the Soine Sitsu may be interpreted as a manifestation of the desire to get close with another person, while the payable aspect of this service represent the sharp demand for intimacy in modern Japanese society. Though practically every country faces the presence of prostitution, little is known about services apart from Japan where clients are paying for getting an access to such innocent content of normal interpersonal relations as hugging.

All in all, the necessity of obtaining the private emotional and physical space represented in ibasho is formulated on the primal stage of socialization through the realms of family and home that are indicated as secured locations for stress reduction. Lately, the demand for ibasho is postulated on the adult stage of life as well. Simultaneously with the degradation of the traditional Japanese social institutions that are capable for stress reduction, i.e. domestic and business life, Japanese individual tend to produce new, nearly artificial models of ibasho. In such institutions the stress coping is achieved through providing the opportunity of satisfaction of private needs as well as by the means of simulation of basic components of intimate behavior.

Conclusion

The issue of stress factors and coping mechanisms in modern Japanese culture acquired different manifestations and postulated itself in various spheres.

Socialization and social environment produced a certain ground for generation of stress among Japanese individuals. From their socialization they receive the idea that locus of control over their lives is predominantly external which leads to the learned helplessness to change surrounding conditions along with the complete dependence on the opinion of others. Individual self-esteem and self-approval derives from these external expectations that can directly influence person's mental health and push him or her to the brink of nervous breakdown. Respectively, another powerful version of external control in Japanese society is public announcements that are literally omnipresent. They regulate practically every aspect of social affairs and tend to imply the concept of potential danger in the daily life. The majority of Japanese individuals demonstrate voluntary subjugation to them which may be regarded as a form of infantilism, a fear to independently determine own life and take responsibility for own actions, in a broad meaning, to behave as an adult. These peculiarities of socialization and social control were not generated solely in period of post-Bubble Japan; yet they heavily worsened the ability of Japanese individuals to adapt to changing social reality, causing a greater outburst of frustration. Consequently, current stress and fear catalysts are gradually empowered at the further social institutions - school and workplace.

Though Japanese society is generally safe, serious dramatic affairs occasionally occur in Japanese schools, while crime rates among the pupils are on the increase. Japanese schools are functioning in the form of solid kumi groups and a fear to be rejected from them proposes submission in children. Teachers commonly apply violence to students, sometimes in the corporal way or taibatsu which is officially prohibited, but generally tolerated, as it is thought to efficiently create discipline. A practice of gambare or “self-surpassing” dominates in school curriculum and occupies most of the student's leisure time. It leads to a generation of psychological frustration that is getting severer as children grow up. In comparison to foreign countries (US) Japanese students also suffer from a more complicated form of depression. Another consequence of gambare is pupil's constant fatigue and sleep deprivation that proposes vulnerable response to frustration. As a result, statistically school represents the biggest source of stress for Japanese children. Japanese pupils lack ability to cope with such hostile environment and frequently push themselves to suicide, the main source of which is also defined as troubles connected with school. A bigger number of children prefer to completely avoid school attendance in the form of futoko. Futoko is extremely common nowadays: approximately every middle school class has one student who misses studying with no physical or economic reason. This practice is not similar to truancy, because futoko-prone children are generally non-aggressive, submissive and experience self-loathing for their inability to cope with school stress.

Moreover, since the economic crisis of 1990s and the start of the post-Bubble era work in Japan shifted from cultural pillar to stressful abnormality. Historically Japanese work culture was grounded in the perception of company as a “macro-family”, where the devotion and loyalty of employees were supported by the life-long care of employers. After the collapse of Bubble economy, a significant group of NEETs was introduced that possessed none opportunity to find occupation and thus fulfill their need for belonging. Simultaneously, Japanese companies started to employ hakenshain, a new type of contractual work force, who due to their marginal position became an object of constant bullying and had little psychological and financial secure. Nevertheless, hakenshain nowadays form more than one-third of Japanese work force. Changes in work environment did not improve position of women as well, who continued to be regarded as secondary workers with minimum senior positions received. Respectively, standard workers or seishain demonstrated an increase in nervous disturbances and suicides. Their new work conditions are characterized by karoshi or the “death from over-working”, when sacrificial nature of Japanese employees collides with worsening economic reality, leading a worker to physical and nervous devastation. In modern post-Bubble Japan, the sacrificial nature of Japanese business culture, its semi-ritual persistent practices are already clashing with complicated economic reality and may lead Japanese employees to nervous and physical degradation and in some cases even to the fatal situation.

Regarding the coping mechanisms, the five of them were detected, which appear to be the mechanisms of ijime, kireru, hikikomori, amae and ibasho.