Video game hub Japan confronts problem of addiction
From Super Mario to Final Fantasy, Japan has long been synonymous with gaming, but some experts and parents fear a growing addiction problem is going unaddressed.
While nearby nations like China and South Korea have imposed drastic restrictions on youth gaming in recent years -- with mixed results -- some Japanese families feel they are being left to deal with the issue on their own.
Each month, a group meets in Tokyo to swap stories and strategies for tackling their children's gaming habits.
"My only comfort is that he has been keeping his promise to stay offline overnight," one father says, as another confides their child has been attending a rehab day camp.
The group's founder, Sakiko Kuroda, says children in Japan now start playing video games early in primary school, and pandemic restrictions mean many are playing for longer.
Many parents do not know how to deal with the issue, and there is "a lack of action by the government and the gaming industry," said Kuroda, who started the group in 2019 as an informal meet-up.
"People come from across the country to take part, as this kind of self-help gathering is rare in Japan."
The World Health Organization describes "gaming disorder" as behaviour that results in "significant impairment" of areas like relationships, education or work, and lasts at least a year.
As gaming can overlap with other online activities like social media use, it is hard to quantify the problem, though anecdotal evidence from doctors suggests more families in Japan are worried -- particularly since the pandemic.
- 'Playing all night' -
An education ministry survey this April showed that 17 percent of children aged six to 12 spend more than four hours a day gaming -- up from nine percent
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