Hikikomori
Hikikomori (Japanese: 引きこもり, "pulling inward") is a Japanese term for prolonged social withdrawal, in which a person stays almost entirely at home and avoids social contact, school, or work for months or years. The term refers both to the phenomenon and to the people who experience it. First described in Japan, the phenomenon has since been reported internationally.[1]
History
The term was popularized by the Japanese psychiatrist Saitō Tamaki in his 1998 book Shakaiteki hikikomori: Owaranai shishunki, published in English in 2013 as Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End.[2] Earlier uses of the phrase date to the 1980s.[3]
A Japanese Cabinet Office survey released in 2023 estimated that about 1.46 million people aged 15 to 64, roughly 2 percent of that age group, were living as hikikomori, defined as having been isolated for at least six months. About a fifth of those identified cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor.[3]
Definition
In a 2020 paper, the psychiatrists Takahiro Kato, Shigenobu Kanba, and Alan Teo proposed diagnostic criteria for hikikomori as a form of pathological social withdrawal: marked physical isolation at home, lasting at least six months, accompanied by significant distress or impairment.[1]
Hikikomori overlaps with NEET status but is not the same thing. NEET describes absence from employment, education, or training, while hikikomori describes withdrawal from social participation.[1] The hikikomori has also become a recurring figure in anime, manga, and internet culture, where the term is sometimes used as a self-description.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Takahiro A. Kato, Shigenobu Kanba, and Alan R. Teo (2020). "Defining pathological social withdrawal: proposed diagnostic criteria for hikikomori". World Psychiatry. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
- ↑ "Hikikomori". Psychology Today. Retrieved October 16, 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 April 6, 2023. "Japan's hikikomori: Social recluses became more isolated during Covid pandemic". CNN. Retrieved October 16, 2026.