Featured

hikikomori

Japan’s two-month Shut-in Pilgrimage – A 1,200-year-old way to deal with a modern issue

Program helps hikikomori take steps towards reconnecting with the outside world.

Read More

Japanese government appoints hikikomori as head of council on “self-quarantine strategies”

Once loathed by society, now hikikomori might save society.

Read More

46-year-old hikikomori arrested for leaving mother’s dead body inside house for over a year

“Yikes. This is like right out of a horror movie.”

Read More

49-year-old Japanese shut-in spends weeks living with corpse of mother who died at home

”I couldn’t do anything,” says hikikomori in written statement.

Read More

Hokkaido and Osaka team up to send NEETs to agricultural sectors to do some productive work

It’s time for Japan’s recluses to step out of their comfort zone and change the world.

Read More

Survey asks Japan’s ex-NEETs if they miss their lazy, carefree days after finally getting a job

Japanese people not in employment or education have said “If you get a job, you lose!” but how do they feel once they actually join the workforce?

Read More

Music video shows what it’s like to stay indoors too long in a Japanese room

 

This mesmerising video gives us a unique perspective of what it’s like to be a Japanese “hikikomori” social recluse.

Read More

Tohoku University’s study cites a scary new reason for an increased chance of being a hikkikomori

If you want to keep yourself from becoming a shut-in, you better brush your teeth!

Read More

Nagoya NPO releases survival guide for hikikomori for when their parents are gone

The social phenomenon of hikikomori, where people are compelled to remain confined in their own homes, is not new anymore. What is new, however, is the looming issue of what happens when a hikikomori’s parents become elderly or die.

Recently a scattering of cases has begun involving people who have filed for government support after their parents have died. And with estimates of the hikikomori population hovering around one million in Japan, experts are suggesting this is just the tip of the impending iceberg.

One group called Nadeshiko No Kai out of Nagoya is looking to take the bull by the horns and is nearly ready to issue a manual – the first of its kind – for hikikomori to aid them in becoming independent once their parents are no longer able to help.

Read More

00