Post on Hikikomori

The story of the hikikomori was a very interesting one, and definitely displayed an interesting part of Japan that might otherwise remain quite literally unseen. As laid out by the article, the phenomenon of middle-aged individuals hiding themselves in their homes without working or interacting with society is amazingly widespread, with an estimated 613,000 people aged 40-64 in Japan alone. This does not count the many individuals in other age groups suffering through the same conditions (including these would bring the total estimated social recluse count to over 1 million). The article goes on to recount the potential triggers or causes that are common amongst the hikikomori, citing occurrences such as retirement, unemployment, not fitting in at the workplace, and troubles maintaining relationships.

The significance of this story lies in the potential causes (and potential effects) of this prolonged isolation on both the hikikomori and Japan’s overall society. The theme among the reasons given by people who took the survey cited in this article seems to be employment, which has a few implications for Japanese culture. In general, Japanese workplaces are very collectivistic, meaning that the workplace focuses on the group rather than the individual workers. Decisions are made together, everyone is contributing to and working towards the same goal, and this attitude is a signifier of the cultural importance of being a contributing member of society. Japanese employees work long hours with few breaks, and as such the importance of having a good relationship with your workplace community is great. When a person retires and becomes separated from this community, and also ceases to be actively working, it makes sense that they would begin to feel isolated and spend more time at home. Taking this to the extreme leads to potentially becoming a hikikomori. On a related note, never entering a workplace community at all would be understandably just as difficult for the same reasons, along with feeling like a misfit within a workplace. 

The social difficulties that can result from becoming a hikikomori can be viewed well through the lens of pop culture, particularly, at least in my experience, within anime and manga. In almost every anime I’ve watched or manga I’ve read, there has been at least one discussion between the characters about another character potentially becoming a hikikomori, or a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) - which is slightly different than the concept of hikikomori, but is also related to not contributing or preparing to contribute to society from an economical perspective. In these discussions, the potential hikikomori is either worried for, laughed at, or scolded for being lazy, irresponsible, a burden to others, socially inept, or unintelligent. If this trope in anime is true to real life, ideas like this being connected so strongly with the situations of hikikomori add to an air of disgrace that seems to surround them. As a result, layers of shame and stigma press down on these individuals and make it even more difficult to reach out and reintegrate themselves into society. On top of this there is the fact that many hikikomori suffer from mental illnesses, to which there is also a stigma attached. Many difficulties block hikikomori from leaving their isolation,but there is hope for those living in social isolation. In a National Geographic article titled “Pictures Reveal the Isolated Lives of Japan’s Social Recluses,” a system of “rental sibings” was discussed, where people visit the homes of hikikomori and slowly coax them out of isolation by getting to understand them without judgement and becoming friends with them. Through this process, these rental siblings become the hikikomori’s first reintroduction to the outside world.

The implications of this story about the hikikomori and Japan are positive, because although this article’s statistics are startling, its existence indicates a particular level of interest by Japan and Japan’s government in the plight of the hikikomori. This interest combined with programs like the one mentioned in the National Geographic article will hopefully lead towards more help for hikikomori (and potentially, a cultural change towards less stigma associated with hikikomori).