引きこもり

According to a Japanese cabinet survey, there are currently 541,000 young Japanese aged between 15 and 39 who lead reclusive lives. Those people, that lives alla round the world, in japanese are called Hikikomori, which means "pulling inward, being confined"

Of the 541,000 people between age 15 and 39 who fit that description, 34% have spent seven years or more in self-isolation. Another 29% have lived in reclusion for three to five years.

In other countries?

South Korea and Taiwan have reported a scattering of hikikomori, and isolated cases may have always existed in Japan. But only in the last decade and only in Japan has hikikomori become a social phenomenon. Like anorexia, which has been largely limited to Western cultures, hikikomori is a culturebound syndrome that thrives in one particular country during a particular moment in its history.

At the time, some experts estimated that about one million people, mostly young men in their 20s, were spending their days locked up in their bedrooms, reading manga, watching TV, or playing video games. They refused to work or go to school and often didn’t communicate with family members, let alone friends and many other things.

There’s no standard course of treatment. Doctors believe the condition, which is not yet classified as an official disorder, is caused by a mix of psychological and societal influences. It’s far more common in men, who face more cultural pressure to succeed socially and professionally than women do. 

Why is it such a problem?

If there's no one that goes outside, then who would work? Who would study and lead the country in the future?

Solutions?

For those who can't yet face stepping out of their homes, virtual high schools offer an alternative. Hoping to identify and develop unique talent, these schools allow students to develop alone at their own pace from the safety of their rooms. Such schools, along with support centers, have gone some way to help hikikomori, with numbers down by 151,000 since 2010.

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By Leyla Polo