“Young Japanese are making monkeys of themselves, aping the behaviour patterns of chimpanzees.” Nobuo Masataka, Kyoto
The proliferation of mobile phones in Japan has caused many men to apparently ape the behaviour of chimpanzees – walking around for a long time without going to any specific place, then eating and disposing of their wastes in the same place before bedding down on piles of grass whenever and wherever the inclination takes them. According to researcher Masataka, mobile phones have liberated many young men from a whole series of daily burdens, but inevitably, they have become so caught up with using them they’ve forgotten about physical social intercourse. Instead, they confine themselves to loitering on the street, abandoning family activities, consumed by mobile communication.
Young men have lost the ability to discern between public and private space, and have formed the dearuki-zoku (out and about tribe). Characteristically, they don't eat meals at home with family members and hang about on the same streets with the same old friends. Parents let their kids go out because they think they're only a phone call away, because they believe the mobile phone offers them an unbreakable link. However, therein lies a breakdown in communications among the family members. The problem is, despite having this communication device that guarantees 24/7 contact, little real communication going on between family members.
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