addiction

Japanese Twitter users discuss the fine line between having fun and being an addict

Turns out there’s a simple way you assess whether you’re a happy drunk or a dangerous one, at least according to one Japanese Twitter user.

Read More

“Gotta catch ’em all, son!” Japanese dad gets game-addicted kid to quit – by making it a chore

You can learn all kinds of things on the internet. How to fix your leaky tap, how to get your baby to go to sleep in five seconds, and now, how to get your kid to step away from the console.

On the Japanese Twitterverse this week we read of one father’s unusual method of getting his son to stop playing video games – by making Pokémon compulsory.

Read More

Nearly five percent of Japanese are addicted to gambling – even though it’s still “illegal”

What do loud noises, small shiny balls, and bright lights have in common? Pachinko parlors. Pachinko, which can be described as a cross between pinball and slot machines, is a favorite pastime in Japan, despite gambling being illegal (because it’s not technically gambling). The players, who often spend hours sitting in front of these noisy, bright machines, win shiny steel balls, not money, so it’s not gambling, right? Right. Enter loophole: They can take their baskets of balls to a neighboring, but “separate,” establishment to exchange the balls for cash prizes. How convenient!

Pachinko parlors are often huge, gaudy buildings, common even to countryside towns. If you pass one early in the morning, there will often be a line of people rounding the corner, waiting for the doors to open. Many people, especially men, love pachinko. Some members of the government, however, are starting to believe that their citizens love it a little too much.

Read More

“Idol addiction” ruining your life? Call this hotline to take control!

While making a hobby out of adoring Japanese idols is a perfectly acceptable pastime, we here at RocketNews24 know that with so many ways to indulge, from plumbing to college courses to ramen, some idol enthusiasts may find themselves with a full-blown case of “idol addiction.” Luckily, there is a hotline for those wanting to find out how to enjoy their idol worship in moderation!

Read More

Japanese government to begin “net fasting” research on students

According to a study by the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare, 518,000 teenagers are “strongly addicted” to the internet. In the eyes of the ministry, such a level of addiction can lead to irregular sleep patterns and unhealthy eating habits.

However, in an age where online access can be found everywhere, an addiction to the net can be one of the hardest to kick. So the Japanese government, in what it calls “an urgent need for action,” is looking into the effectiveness of “net fasting” which, as the name suggests, is an extended break from any online activity.

Read More

Father Attempts to Solve his Son’s Online Addiction by Hiring a ‘Hunter’ to Shoot his Boy Down

Co-operative online gaming is defined by the sense of mutual indispensability it brings; regardless of the age, nationality or sex of the player you are teaming up with, taking on a particular role as a team is what makes it so fascinating — and addicting. If you suddenly pull out, your allied team mate is left to settle the dilemma first hand. Vise versa, if you’re left to tackle the enemy yourself, you feel equally betrayed. It is this unspoken agreement of “I’ll watch your back if you watch mine” that compounds the feeling of seeing the game through to the end.

On this is note, let me introduce an episode involving a twenty-three year old social recluse’s online gaming antics that has recently been making the news in China. The father of this twenty-three year old gamer grew concerned that his son was becoming too obsessed with the gaming world; not having any interest in finding a job or placing his efforts into anything but gaming, the son’s father resorted to a rather unique measure in attempt to stop his son in his tracks.

Most fathers, when confronted with a similar problem, would tell their son to get his act together or even go so far as to confiscate his gaming equipment. What this father did however was hire an ‘online hunter’ or, in other words, a ‘gaming pro’, to shoot down his son inside the game itself and thus destroys his son’s ‘online gaming morale’.

Some will undoubtedly be exclaiming “that’s pure ingenuity” others, “isn’t that going a little bit too far?!”

Read More