![]() ![]() However, according to a government survey conducted in 2020, there were an estimated 610,000 hikikomori in Japan. The exact number of shut ins in Japan is hard to determine since many cases go unreported. In this article, we will explore the prevalence of shut ins in Japan, the reasons behind this behavior, the impact on Japanese society, and how the government and society are addressing this problem. This behavior has become a social issue that affects not only the individual but also their families and society as a whole. “We’re working on the social and biological aspects as well (as psychological) and want to be the first to provide a multidimensional diagnosis,” he said.Shut ins or hikikomori is a phenomenon in Japan where people isolate themselves from the outside world for months or even years. Many hikikomori still live with their parents who financially enable the lifestyle and in some reported cases bring food to their door.ĭr Kato works with groups of hikikomori and tries to counsel them in order to get them to re-enter society. “In Western societies, if one stays indoors, they’re told to go outside,” Dr Kato told the ABC. ![]() In addition to a strong emotional dependence on their parents, he believes the increasingly digital nature of life is contributing to the problem. Takahiro Kato, a professor in the neuropsychiatry department at Kyushu University has worked with the centre in an effort to study hikikomori. In the local dialect, the name of the centre translates to “It’s OK, don’t worry about it” and the small centre mainly fields phone calls from those who’ve become reclusive, as well as many worried parents. Over four years ago, a support centre opened up in the city of Fukuoka, nearly 900km southwest of Tokyo. The Japanese government has poured huge amounts of funding into greater understanding hikikomori, however the rate of successful treatments remains low. Yet the phenomenon is puzzling mental health workers, who are trying to treat those who suffer from the condition. ![]() Some stay in their rooms for years on end.Īccording to the Wall Street Journal, hikikomori has been a household word in Japan since the 1990s, with many experts calling it one of the biggest social and health problems plaguing the country. ![]() The intense pressure to perform at school or achieve in society leads some to deal with rejection or humiliation by shutting themselves away. His reasoning for permanently retreating to his bedroom is common among hikikomori. Mr Onishi became a hikikomori after he failed as a team leader at school and felt like an embarrassment, a feeling exacerbated by pressure placed on him by his family. “I knew it was abnormal but I didn’t want to change. “Once you experience it, you lose reality,” Mr Onishi told the ABC’s 7.30this week. Living in his bedroom, he would sleep during the day, surf online and read comics at night - occasionally slinking out to get some food. Yuto Onishi, now 18, spent nearly three years as a shut-in as he excommunicated himself from friends and family. The trend of young Japanese, predominantly males, locking themselves away is causing very worrying social and health problems for the country and is mystifying mental health experts. The name relates to the condition from which the members of this group appear to suffer. There is thought to be nearly 1 million of them in the country and they are called hikikomori. No longer able to face society, they have locked themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to exist in the outside world. THEY are known as Japan’s “lost generation” or “invisible youth”. ![]()
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