Starting next year, a team of researchers recruited by the Japanese Ministry of Education will commit themselves to studying the connection between brain structure and sociability. Their aim will be the analysis of structures of the brain that control mechanisms such as sleep rhythm and stress tolerance, in order to prevent — and eventually cure — those disorders which affect social relations.
According to an article [ja] published by Mainichi Shinbun on August 19th, the government is promoting this research, which will cost over 1.7 billion yen, in response to the problematic increase in hikikomori [引ãã“ã‚‚ã‚Š] (i.e. individuals who isolate from the family and the rest of the world shutting themselves in their room for months or years) and “enraged youngsters” [kireru wakamono/ã‚レる若者].
Among bloggers who commented on the article by journalist Taku Nishikawa [西å·æ‹“], many (e.g. Shigeru Kurokawa [é»’å·æ»‹] in his blog KyÅ mo aruku [ãょã†ã‚‚æ©ã] [ja]) expressed a feeling of disappointment about the Japanese government’s resolution, which seems paradoxical. Kurokawa comments that while claiming to solve sociological and cultural issues using brain science, it is left up to the Ministry of Education and not to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to find the chemical formulas that will provide answers about the phenomena of hikikomori and “enraged youngsters”.
Another blogger, Kaze no hÅsen [風ã®ã»ãƒ¼ã›ã‚“], says:
記事ã®ã‚ˆã†ãªç ”究も必è¦ãªã“ã¨ã‹ã‚‚ã—ã‚Œãªã„ãŒã€åŽšç”ŸåŠ´åƒçœãªã‚‰ã¨ã‚‚ã‹ãã€æ–‡éƒ¨ç§‘å¦çœã«ã¯ã“ã†ã—ãŸç ”究よりもã€æ•™è‚²å¦çš„ã‚ã‚‹ã„ã¯ç¤¾ä¼šå¦çš„ãªè¦³ç‚¹ã‹ã‚‰ã®è€ƒå¯ŸãŒæœ›ã¾ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚文部科å¦çœã«ã¯ã€Œå¼•ãã“ã‚‚ã‚Šã€ã‚„「ã‚レるã€ã®åŽŸå› ã¯ã€ç¾åœ¨ç¤¾ä¼šã«ãŠã‘る人間関係ã®ã‚り方やã€å¦æ ¡æ•™è‚²ã‚’ã¯ã˜ã‚ã¨ã—ãŸæ•™è‚²ã®ã‚ã‚Šæ–¹ã«ã“ãã€æ±‚ã‚ã¦ã»ã—ã„。
[…]
ã“ã†ã—ãŸæ•™è‚²ç¾å ´ã§ã®ã€Œã‚レるã€åŽŸå› ã‚’ã€ã“ã©ã‚‚ãŸã¡ã®å…ˆå¤©çš„ãªè¦å› ã«æ±‚ã‚ã‚‹ç ”ç©¶ã‚’ã„ã®ä¸€ç•ªã«å–り組むよã†ãªå§¿å‹¢ã¯ã€ãã®æ•™è‚²ã®å¤§å…ƒç· ã‚ã§ã‚る文部科å¦çœã®è²¬ä»»æ”¾æ£„ã«è¿‘ã„態度ã ã¨è¨€ã£ã¦ã„ã„。文部科å¦çœã¯ã€è–¬ç‰©æ²»ç™‚ã§ã‚‚ã£ã¦ã€å¦æ ¡ç¾å ´ã§ã®ã„ã˜ã‚や暴力を解決ã—よã†ã¨ã§ã‚‚æ€ã£ã¦ã„ã‚‹ã®ã ã‚ã†ã‹ã€‚
Other Japanese bloggers expressed that the claim in the Mainichi article, stressing that the Ministry research was aimed at analyzing relations between brain mechanism and “rage”, was tendentious. In particular, there was this quotation of a post left by an anonymous commenter to a 2ch thread:
3910: 大å¦é™¢ã§è„³ç§‘å¦ã‚’ç ”ç©¶ã—ã¦ã„ã¾ã™ãŒ
è¦ã¯ã€Œè„³ãŒç¤¾ä¼šçš„ãªç’°å¢ƒã‚’ã©ã†æ§‹ç¯‰ã—ã¦é©åˆã—ã¦ã„ã‚‹ã®ã‹ã€ã«ã¤ã„ã¦ã®
ç ”ç©¶ãªã‚“ã ãŒã€ã“ã®æ–‡ã‚’èªã‚€é™ã‚Šæ–‡ç§‘çœãŒãれを無ç†ã‚„り「切れるã€ã«
çµã³ä»˜ã‘ã¦ã„るよã†ã«æ€ãˆã‚‹ã€‚
ã—ã‹ã—実際ã¯å¤‰ä½“毎日ãŒæ–‡ç§‘çœã®å ±é“資料ã‹ã‚‰ä¸€éƒ¨æ–‡è¨€ã‚’
ピックアップã—ã¦ã®å°è±¡æ“作ã ã¨æ€ã‚れる。
ã¡ã‚ƒã‚“ã¨ã—ãŸçµæžœãŒå¾—られるã‹ã©ã†ã‹ã¯åˆ¥ã¨ã—ã¦ã€
ç ”ç©¶è‡ªä½“ã¯æ‚ªããªã„ã—ã€ã“ã®ç ”究ã«äºˆç®—ã‚’ã¤ãŽè¾¼ã‚€äº‹ã‚‚å•é¡Œãªã„ã¨æ€ã†ã€‚
å•é¡Œãªã®ã¯å¤‰ä½“æ–°èžãŒã®ã•ã°ã£ã¦ã‚‹äº‹ã€‚
ã•ã‚‰ã«å•é¡Œãªã®ã¯ã“ã®è„³ç§‘å¦å§”員会ã®å§”å“¡ã«æ¯Žæ—¥ã®è¨˜è€…ãŒå±…る事。
http://www.lifescience.mext.go.jp/files/pdf/6_111.pdf
Concerning the research about “the adaptability and the formation of the brain according to the social environment”, if this sentence is read out of context, it would seem that the Ministry of Education absolutely wanted to relate the research to “rage”.
However, it would seem that Mainichi manipulated the sources in picking up that specific sentence from the papers of the Mext [Ministry of Education].
Whether proper results will be achieved or not, I think that there is nothing wrong with the research itself, nor is there anything wrong with the fact that a budget has been allocated to it.
The problem here is that a crooked newspaper is acting so high-handedly.
And what’s more, the problem is that a journalist from Mainichi Shimbun is also a member of the Brain Study Committee.
http://www.lifescience.mext.go.jp/files/pdf/6_111.pdf
Leave Your Comments