Well, one thing that you could do is help her find some Japanese friends locally? I went through a time when I was absolutely fascinated with Asian cultures and I took a lot of Asian Studies courses. For a couple of years, almost all of my friends were Asian. It just happened naturally. But then I began to encompass other interests as well.

Years later, I was able to go on a trip to Japan, a wonderful two week trip at the end of 1999. My best buddy just happens to be married to a Japanese-American guy who has a lot of family over in Japan. Some of my friend's contacts and relatives were VIP's. One was a former sumo wrestler--basically, a famous and wealthy person--who had a gorgeous house in Tokyo. That man cooked us a fabulous dinner of shabu shabu (I'm not sure I spelled it right) which is thinly sliced boiled beef. He didn't have a table large enough so he removed a door from his house so we could all dine together. His wife worked in the sumo gift shop and gave us a huge box full of tea sets and other ceramic samples. To get them onto the airplane I had to put all of my clothes in a cardboard box and then pack the breakables in my suitcase and strap the cardboard box on top of the suitcase.

Other relatives were Buddhist priests. We actually slept on temple floors some nights. Others were wealthy businessmen who had their own drivers and took us to very fancy multi-course meals in hotels or very exclusive tiny restaurants with only a few tables. And there were two relatives with their own museums. In Japan, if you are wealthy and you enjoy a hobby, then you create a museum in your home. One museum was of tea ware and the other was a cooking museum dedicated to the soba noodle (buckwheat noodle). That man made us an entire soba noodle lunch from scratch as a demonstration in his professional grade kitchen.

We enjoyed nightlife, fish markets, fire works, hot springs, etc. We gave little gifts to everyone we met. It is a very gift-oriented culture. I had brought lots of boxes of chocolate from home. On New Year's Eve, a friend took us on a really long and packed subway ride out to the beach. It is one tradition to be at the beach as the sun rises on New Year's Day to make a wish. And also to visit a temple and receive a fortune on a little slip of paper. Then you hang it on a wire with everyone else's wish, for good luck.

Anyway, seeing the Japanese culture in a new way might help your sister see that the Japanese culture she views through videos is only one VERY small part of a Japanese world she already loves. If she saw more of the Japanese culture and actually had a chance to truly speak a few words of Japanese in a real life setting, well, maybe she would enjoy that. P.S. Take her to karaoke nights.

There is an old saying that I'd like to flip around a little to make a point here - "You can lead a horse to water, but should you force it to drink?"

Your sister seems to have come a long, long ways in overcoming her disability and, no doubt, she has developed some habits that she finds relaxing, consoling, etc. that don't coincide with the way you run your life. However, she is an adult now, and has she not earned the right to lead her own life? Or must she lead what YOU think is the ideal life for her?

To become more involved in her life, you (and your parents) have the option of becoming more interested in the things that she is interested in. In other words, YOU can move towards her rather than insisting on always "pulling her" towards you and your world. You can always invite her to participate in other things, but forcing her by removing her electronics seems extreme to me.

Perhaps Japanese is something that Molly would really like to learn, but perhaps her difficulties with communication (associated with her autism) preclude her from effectively learning a second language in a classroom setting... so, perhaps YOU can take the classes and then find a way to teach her the language in a manner adapted to her abilities. Have you asked her how she might feel about this?

Perhaps she's withdrawing to her electronics right now because she's avoiding communciating much with people that just want to continue to mold her into this "normal person" image you have instead of just appreciating her for the wonderful person she already is. Many people with autism resent the idea of "curing" them because they feel that this equates to erasing who they are.

BTW, welcome to AB.
Perz