ABSTRACT
“I’m so tired … If only my child were not here … If only he died … These thoughts sometimes cross my mind, and I feel so bad about thinking like this. … I wonder if I brought up my child the wrong way. He’s a perfectionist but a kind child. He keeps on blaming us when has problems.” A mother talks about her 23-year-old son who has been hikikomori for six years. Other mothers respond in encouragement, saying “That’s better than having violence in the family (kateinai-bōryoku).” “There is usually a time when the child bitterly reproaches you, but once you get over it, it’ll be fine.”
