Hikikomori life1/13/2024 And while British parents might give short shrift to a child refusing to leave their room, Japanese parents feel a strong obligation to support children no matter what and shame often prevents them from seeking help, says Kato.īut the increasing number of cases outside Japan is leading people to question the culture-bound nature of the condition. Economic stagnation and globalisation is bringing Japan’s collectivist and hierarchical traditions into conflict with a more individualistic and competitive Western worldview, says Kato. Living up to the expectations of Japanese society has also got harder. “If someone says something they're out of the group.” “School is a monoculture, everyone has to have the same opinion,” says one of the visitors, Haru, 34. “I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to go outside.”Īt Fukuoka city’s hikikomori support centre the Yokayoka Room – “take it easy” room in the local dialect – one by one the group describes the pressure they felt to conform. (The names of all hikikomori have been changed to protect their identity.) ![]() When he stopped attending the leader called him several times a week and the pressure, combined with that from his family, eventually caused him to withdraw completely. He also attended a religious group almost daily, but the group’s leader started publicly criticising his attitude and inability to get back into work. Rigid social norms, high expectations from parents and a culture of shame make Japanese society a fertile breeding ground for feelings of inadequacy and a desire to keep one’s head below the parapet, Kato says.Īfter quitting his job in 2015, Tomoki, 29, tells me he was determined to get back into work and regularly visited the job centre. Only half-jokingly, the 6ft 2in doctor adds that’s why he walks around with a slight hunch so he’s not seen as arrogant. “In Japanese there’s a very famous saying, ‘A protruding nail will be hammered down’,” says Kato. The condition was originally considered “culture-bound” and there are reasons to think Japanese society is particularly vulnerable, says Takahiro Kato, an associate professor of psychiatry at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, who both studies and treats hikikomori. Today the most common criteria is a combination of physical isolation, social avoidance and psychological distress that lasts six months or longer. The term hikikomori, often used interchangeably for the condition and its sufferers, was coined by Japanese psychologist Tamaki Saitō in his 1998 book Social Withdrawal – Adolescence Without End. At the same time there’s hope technology could help bring people back from the brink. Any potential links are far from settled, but there’s concern Japan’s lost generation could be a canary in the coal mine for our increasingly disconnected societies. Have blue lights prevented train suicides in Japan?Ī controversial but common theme in hikikomori research is the isolating influence of modern technology.Can a high-carb diet explain why Okinawans live so long?.Last January the UK appointed its first minister for loneliness and recent Office of National Statistics data found nearly 10% of 16 to 24-year-olds reported feeling "always or often" lonely. Whether due to increased awareness or a growing problem remains unclear, but concern around social isolation is on the rise globally. It’s not just in Asia, cases are appearing in the US, Spain, Italy, France and elsewhere. In neighbouring South Korea, a 2005 analysis estimated there were 33,000 socially withdrawn adolescents (0.3% of the population) and in Hong Kong a 2014 survey pegged the figure at 1.9%. The condition was initially thought to be unique to Japan, but in recent years cases have appeared across the world. A government survey found roughly 541,000 (1.57% of the population) but many experts believe the total is much higher as it can take years before they seek help. ![]() They are known as hikikomori – recluses who withdraw from all social contact and often don’t leave their houses for years at a time. An endless stream of emails, posts, tweets, likes, comments and pictures keeps us constantly plugged into modern life.īut in Japan half a million people live as modern-day hermits. In today’s connected world it can feel difficult to disengage. (This article is illustrated with a series of portraits by photographer Maika Elan.)
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