Japan's taboo: Hikikomori modern-day hermits | Reporters • FRANCE 24 English

just stop sending them water.

the only one that affect this lifestyle are the ECONOMY of Japan. they are happy living like that. in china they call theirs Let i Rot. or lying flat.

Frankly who cares about societal norm. Everyone can live whichever way he pleases. No one can say which is better or which is not. Living alone does not mean it’s not good. It’s good for many. 😊

Sometimes people are just lazy to entertain the messy world. 😅

Alice is cute though

This earth is not who loves us, it hates us.

Hikikomori or people being reclusive for years doesn't just exist in japan, it exist around the world. We just don't have a word for them yet. This phenomenon might be a reflection of a dysfunctional society.

It seems that the structure of society had made people too dependent to the school-work system that when they leave that system they just don't know what to do. They don't know anything beyond work or school. Imagine waking up at 6 to prepare to go to school and from then on you're either in school or work and goes home at 5pm. How are people gonna know more than school and work when they barely have time. Imagine living like that for years and you decided to quit school or work EVEN FOR SOME TIME. It is a shock to your body's system and brain bc you stopped something you've been doing for 15 years, 20 years or 50 years. Reclusivity is a problem among youths, middle-aged, and those who have retired from work and it seems to be common among introverted people of any age. I also don't think that this reclusive attitude only exist in middle-income families, if they have been poor, they'd be lying on the streets unwilling to live. They are the people you call homeless and beggars, too depressed to even try to live.

We go to school primarily to be prepared and qualified to go to work. In some schools it's from 8am to 5pm, and we do that for 16 years then work from early morning till dusk until we retire. This is how most people live. Our lives revolves around work.

So having a work we love or at least figuring out what makes us happy have never been more important.

In 2020 after loosing my job i decided to become a hikikomori for over 3 years

alice is beauty

The usually find us Hermits bloated or mummified in our own beds. Since we can't fit in their fake society when we die we make a big stink about it. 😆

I'm almost 50 and I've been one since I was about 13/14 years old.
I'm a pretty extreme case.

Having worked dragging dead bodies out of homes for years, I can assure you, every family member feels soooooo sorry… they tried everything! It’s hard to take these people seriously. People make up excuses and keep their face on even when hunching over the stains of their family members on the floor. That’s life.

Been reading over the comments, and I don't think saw anyone mention this, but how much for this does enabling come into play; I understand mental issues and depression, but most of us don't have the privalage/option to just "retreat" to our room for years! Maybe if some of these people had to go out and work and interact with society, they would.

Isn't this agoraphobia? Calling them hikikomori makes it sound like a lifestyle choice, and not the illness it actually is.

I wouldn’t be surprised if people with mental illness suffer from Hikikonori syndrome due to rejection bullied and just dealing with people who don’t care about them or hate them like basically the world is against them and they just give up and can’t handle it anymore

This is happening in the U.S. right now. People can't find work haven't been to work and are overdosing on Fentanyl. College enrollments are down and jibs are hard to find and nobody can buy a home because prices sky rocketed and nobody wants to get married kr have kids.

Im also 32 and been a neet since 21

If Yusuke loves reading manga, he can have a job working with pop culture, but if he also liked birds, he can have a hobby with birds like birdwatching for example, until he’ll work on a shonen manga involving with birds

Video games are from the devil himself.

I guess I am like a Hikikimori, I just don't want to go out as much, but I am trying to get out of it, got myself signed up for therapy and I have wants, but work life does scare me after previous events in life. I can't stay on low money though, it is not a way I want to live.

As someone who is not from Japan but definitely a hikikomori... We infact do exist

What a waste ....

I have a relative who stopped working at his 30s and now he's in his 50s still a NEET. We never treated him like a stranger in fact he still lives with us after all these years. He gets to eat and sleep for free in our house. He's been toxic for like my whole life.. I have no choice but to endure it because in my culture we don't leave family members.. despite how toxic they can be...

People grow tired of being expected to work for a society that doesn't care about them. They're just another number. Also expecting people to place themselves in certain boxes(i.e. getting into a career field you don't care about because of pressure from society and people around you to contribute) can be draining to the spirit. Especially when what the individual actually wants to do to contribute to society is shamed and ridiculed or just doesn't provide enough financial incentive to pursue seriously.

you can be one of gods children that fell from the top because there’s no diversity cause we’re all burning any melting pot

I see myself in a lot of this. Depression, but also physical health problems, both of which make doing things a constant uphill battle.

what a nightmare, just continue staying at home and don't go to school or the workplace to drag people's productivity downwards. Stay at home and don't go out disturbing other people.

COFFEE BOOST ENERGY

Carnival event, attract them out for FUN

I'm 50 years old I wansnt lazy I was friendly Emily person.rEsent space for me.Even today this one of solution for me where I can live with pleasure.

This can only be enabled by affluence. If I don’t work, I don’t eat. I wish I could just stay home.

We are on wrong place

Try being a pwd .

I'm a Hikikomori + Poor.

We must differentiate those who have no social skills and rely for survival from others (thus FORCED to live alone) from those who have the capability and economic means and yet CHOSE to live alone. We must help the first one. For the latter, we must understand that living alone is their happiness. Being alone doesn't mean being lonely. I actually belong to the latter.

This seems like the perfect life to me

This is mass agoraphobia... it is not abnormal in overly crowded societies

4000 Euro cleaning bill! Are they crazy!?? Cleaning up the dead body and tidying up the room doesn't feel like that difficult of a job tbh

People need to understand that Hermits/Hikikomori around the world not just in Japan have rejected the sick society of people. It's not mental illness to be a Hermit; it's freedom from the free range mentally ill people that think they are normal. The way to tell is mentally ill people never ask themselves if they are mentally ill because they think they are normal!

I live in Latin America and I think I had a phase like this, everything was express delivery, fortunately, tinder for casual seggs, etc, working remotely with cameras turned off for 8 years contributed

I’m a teenager in Europe going through the same thing

The only reason I'm not a full fledged hikkikomori is because I have to go to work. Other than that I never leave my room it's a real problem and I'm turning into an alcoholic as well the phone and internet addiction is real

I'm an American Hikikomori.

It's way to easy to end up like this nowadays..... When everything you need is at a touch of a button and requires little to no human interaction, even as far as work nowadays, becoming a complete shut-in isn't even hard. And it's getting worse and worse specially with the rise of AI companion apps. I fear soon enough this will be the normal...

I was living like this in New Zealand. I changed my name to Pubi Yokohama. I’m ok now!

I don’t know why Japan is singled out for this when this is a clear and present problem in the US as well.

Let's not forget its mostly men being affected. We have to realize we need to help men. Remember, its not the "feminist" agenda nor the feminists that are going to help.

i find it interesting how powerful your mental health can change your life

I agree, it's Japan's societal expectations that are at the root of the problem.

Do not stay home and rot, go to the world and choose for yourself the life pattern you want to be.