Hikikomori

Hikikomori in Japan, 2004

Hikikomori (ひきこもり or 引き籠もり Hikikomori, literally "pulling inward, being confined", i.e., "acute social withdrawal") is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general and the people belonging to this societal group. Hikikomori have been described as recluses, loners, or "modern-day hermits."[1]

Definition

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare defines hikikomori as people who refuse to leave their house and, thus, isolate themselves from society in their homes for a period exceeding six months.[2] The psychiatrist Tamaki Saitō defines hikikomori as "a state that has become a problem by the late twenties, that involves cooping oneself up in one’s own home and not participating in society for six months or longer, but that does not seem to have another psychological problem as its principal source."[3] More recently, researchers have suggested six specific criteria required to "diagnose" hikikomori: 1) spending most of the day and nearly every day confined to home, 2) marked and persistent avoidance of social situations, 3) symptoms interfering significantly with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, 4) perceiving the withdrawal as ego-syntonic, 5) duration at least six months, and 6) no other mental disorder that accounts for the social withdrawal and avoidance.[4]

While the degree of the phenomenon varies on an individual basis, in the most extreme cases, some people remain in isolation for years or even decades. Often hikikomori start out as school refusals, or futōkō (不登校) in Japanese (an older term is tōkōkyohi (登校拒否).

Common traits

While many people feel the pressures of the outside world, hikikomori react by complete social withdrawal. In some cases, they isolate themselves in their living quarters for prolonged periods, sometimes for years.[5] They usually have few or no friends.

While hikikomori favor indoor activities, some venture outdoors occasionally.[6] The withdrawal from society usually starts gradually. Affected people may appear unhappy, lose their friends, become insecure, shy, and talk less.

Prevalence

According to government figures released in 2010, there are 700,000 individuals living as hikikomori with an average age of 31.[7] Still, the numbers vary widely between experts. Among these are the hikikomori that are now in their 40s and have spent 20 years in isolation, this group is generally referred to as the "first-generation hikikomori," and there is concern about their reintegration into society in what is known as "the 2030 Problem," when they are in their 60s and their parents begin to die.[7] Additionally, the government estimates that 1.55 million people are on the verge of becoming hikikomori.[7] Psychologist Tamaki Saitō, who first coined the phrase, originally estimated that there may be over one million hikikomori in Japan, or approximately 1% of the total Japanese population. However, considering that hikikomori adolescents are hidden away and their parents are often reluctant to talk about the problem, it is extremely difficult to gauge the number accurately.[8]

While hikikomori is mostly a Japanese phenomenon, cases have been found in the United States, Morocco,Oman, Spain, Italy, South Korea and France.[5][9] Recent research using the same standardized definition of hikikomori has found evidence of it existing in other countries as wide-ranging as the United States and India.[1]

Hypotheses on cause

Autism spectrum and other disorders

Hikikomori is similar to the social withdrawal exhibited by some people with autism spectrum disorders, a group of disorders that include Asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS and "classic" autism. This has led some psychiatrists to suggest that hikikomori may be affected by autism spectrum disorders and other disorders that affect social integration, but that their disorders are altered from their typical Western presentation because of the social and cultural pressures unique to Japan.[10] Suwa & Hara (2007) discovered that 5 of 27 cases of hikikomori had a high-functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HPDD), and 12 more had other disorders or mental diseases (6 cases of personality disorders, 3 cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder, 2 cases of depression, 1 case of slight mental retardation). The researchers used a vignette to illustrate the difference between primary hikikomori (without any obvious mental disorder) and hikikomori with HPDD or other disorder; furthermore, 10 out of 27 had primary hikikomori.[11]

According to Michael Zielenziger's book, Shutting out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation, the syndrome is more closely related to posttraumatic stress disorder. The author claimed that the hikikomori interviewed for the book had discovered independent thinking and a sense of self that the current Japanese environment could not accommodate.

The syndrome also closely parallels the terms avoidant personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder or social anxiety disorder (also known as "social phobia").

Social and cultural influence

Sometimes referred to as a social problem in Japanese discourse, hikikomori has a number of possible contributing factors. Alan Teo has summarized a number of potential cultural features that may contribute to its predominance in Japan, including tendencies toward conformity and collectivism, overprotective parenting, and particularities of the educational and economic systems.[12]

Though acute social withdrawal in Japan appears to affect both genders equally, because of differing social expectations for maturing boys and girls, the most widely reported cases of hikikomori are from middle- and upper-middle-class families whose sons, typically their eldest, refuse to leave the home, often after experiencing one or more traumatic episodes of social or academic failure.

In The Anatomy of Dependence (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1973, translated by John Bester), Takeo Doi identifies the symptoms of hikikomori, and explains its prevalence as originating in the Japanese psychological construct of amae (in Freudian terms, "passive object love", typically of the kind between mother and infant). Other Japanese commentators such as academic Shinji Miyadai and novelist Ryū Murakami, have also offered analysis of the hikikomori phenomenon, and find distinct causal relationships with the modern Japanese social conditions of anomie, amae and atrophying paternal influence in nuclear family child pedagogy. Young adults may feel overwhelmed by modern Japanese society, or be unable to fulfill their expected social roles as they have not yet formulated a sense of personal honne and tatemae – one's "true self" and one's "public façade" – necessary to cope with the paradoxes of adulthood.

The dominant nexus of hikikomori centers on the transformation from youth to the responsibilities and expectations of adult life. Indications are that advanced industrialised societies such as modern Japan fail to provide sufficient meaningful transformation rituals for promoting certain susceptible types of youth into mature roles. As do many societies, Japan exerts a great deal of pressure on adolescents to be successful and perpetuate the existing social status quo. A traditionally strong emphasis on complex social conduct, rigid hierarchies and the resulting, potentially intimidating multitude of social expectations, responsibilities and duties in Japanese society contribute to this pressure on young adults.[13] Historically, Confucian teachings de-emphasizing the individual and favoring a conformist stance to ensure social harmony in a rigidly hierarchized society have shaped much of East Asia, possibly explaining the emergence of the hikikomori phenomenon in other East Asian countries.

In general, the prevalence of hikikomori tendencies in Japan may be encouraged and facilitated by three primary factors:

  1. Middle class affluence in a post-industrial society such as Japan allows parents to support and feed an adult child in the home indefinitely. Lower-income families do not have hikikomori children because a socially withdrawing youth is forced to work outside the home.[14]
  2. The inability of Japanese parents to recognize and act upon the youth's slide into isolation; soft parenting; or codependence between mother and son, known as amae in Japanese.[15]
  3. A decade of flat economic indicators and a shaky job market in Japan makes the pre-existing system requiring years of competitive schooling for elite jobs appear like a pointless effort to many.[16] While Japanese fathers of the current generation of youth still enjoy lifetime employment at multinational corporations, incoming employees in Japan enjoy no such guarantees in today's job market.[17] Some younger Japanese people begin to suspect that the system put in place for their grandfathers and fathers no longer works,[18] and for some, the lack of a clear life goal makes them susceptible to social withdrawal as a hikikomori.[19][20]

Japanese education system

See also: Kyoiku mama

The Japanese education system, like those found in China, Singapore and South Korea, puts great demands upon youth. A multitude of expectations, high emphasis on competition, and the rote memorization of facts and figures for the purpose of passing entrance exams into the next tier of education in what could be termed a rigid pass-or-fail ideology, induce a high level of stress. Echoing the traditional Confucian values of society, the educational system is still viewed as playing an important part in society's overall productivity and success.[21]

In this social frame, students often face significant pressure from parents and the society in general to conform to its dictates and doctrines.[22] These doctrines, while part of modern Japanese society, are increasingly being rejected by Japanese youth in varying ways such as hikikomori, freeter, NEET (Not currently engaged in Employment, Education, or Training), and parasite singles. The term "Hodo-Hodo zoku" (the "So-So tribe") applies to younger workers who refuse promotion to minimize stress and maximize free time.

Beginning in the 1960s, the pressure on Japanese youth to succeed began successively earlier in their lives, sometimes starting before pre-school, where even toddlers had to compete through an entrance exam for the privilege of attending one of the best pre-schools. This was said to prepare children for the entrance exam of the best kindergarten, which in turn prepared the child for the entrance exam of the best elementary school, junior high school, high school, and eventually for their university entrance exam.[23] Many adolescents take one year off after high school to study exclusively for the university entrance exam, and are known as ronin.[24] More prestigious universities have more difficult exams. The most prestigious university with the most difficult exam is the University of Tokyo.[19]

Since 1996, the Japanese Ministry of Education has taken steps to address this 'pressure-cooker' educational environment and instill greater creative thought in Japanese youth by significantly relaxing the school schedule from six day weeks to five day weeks and dropping two subjects from the daily schedule, with new academic curricula more comparable to Western educational models. However, Japanese parents are sending their children to private cram schools, known as juku, to 'make up' for lost time.[20]

After graduating from high school or university, Japanese youth also have to face a very difficult job market in Japan, often finding only part-time employment and ending up as freeters with little income, unable to start a family.[25]

Another source of pressure is from their co-students, who may harass and bully (ijime) some students for a variety of reasons, including physical appearance, wealth, educational or athletic performance. Some have been punished for bullying or truancy, bringing shame to their families. Refusal to participate in society makes hikikomori an extreme subset of a much larger group of younger Japanese that includes parasite singles and freeters.[19][20]

Japanese financial crisis

Some organizations such as the non-profit Japanese organization NPO lila have been trying to combat the financial burden the hikikomori phenomenon has had on Japan's economy.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Teo, Alan. "Modern-Day Hermits: The Story Hikkomori in Japan and Beyond". Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Itou, Junichirou. 2003. Shakaiteki Hikikomori Wo Meguru Tiiki Seisin Hoken Katudou No Guide-line (Guideline on Mental Health Activities in Communities for Social Withdrawal)." Tokyo: Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
  3. ↑ Saitō, Tamaki. 2012. Social Withdrawal: Adolescence without End. Trans. Jeffrey Angles. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  4. ↑ Teo, Alan R.; Gaw, Albert (2010). "Hikikomori, a Japanese Culture-Bound Syndrome of Social Withdrawal? A Proposal for DSM-5". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 198 (6): 444–449. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181e086b1.
  5. 1 2 Teo, Alan R. (2013). "Social isolation associated with depression: A case report of hikikomori". Int J Soc Psychiatry 59 (4): 339–341. doi:10.1177/0020764012437128.
  6. ↑ Archived February 8, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. 1 2 3 Hoffman, Michael. "Nonprofits in Japan help 'shut-ins' get out into the open". The Japan Times Online. The Japan Times. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Saitō, Tamaki (1998). Hikikomori kyūshutsu manyuaru [How to Rescue Your Child from "Hikikomori"]. Tokyo: PHP Kenkyūjo.
  9. ↑ "Des cas d'hikikomori en France". Le Monde (in French). June 9, 2012. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Kary, T., Total Eclipse of the Son: Why are millions of Japanese youths hiding from friends and family?, Psychology Today, Jan/Feb 2003
  11. ↑ Suwa, Mami; Koichi Hara (2007-03-01). "‘Hikikomori’among Young Adults in Japan : The importance of differential diagnosis between primary Hikikomori and Hikikomori with High-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders." (PDF). 医療福祉研究 (Medical and Welfare Research) 3: 94–101. ISSN 1349-7863.
  12. ↑ Teo, Alan. "The Intersection of Culture and Solitude: The Hikikomori Phenomenon in Japan" in "The Handbook of Solitude: Psychological Perspectives on Social Isolation, Social Withdrawal, and Being Alone" Robert J. Coplan (Editor), Julie C. Bowker (Editor). Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 445–460. ISBN 978-1-118-42736-1.
  13. ↑ Rohlen, Thomas P. (1989). "Order in Japanese Society: Attachment, Authority, and Routine". Journal of Japanese Studies 15 (1): 5–40. JSTOR 132406.
  14. ↑ Kudō, Sadatsugu and Saitō, Tamaki. September 2001. Argument! Hikikomori. Tokyo: Studio Pot. Shuppan.　工藤　定次(著),斎藤　環(著),「永冨奈津恵」。「激論!ひきこもり」東京：ポット出版、９月、２００１。ISBN 4939015378
  15. ↑ Kudō, Sadatsugu. October 2001. Hey Hikikomori! It's Time, Let's Go Out. Tokyo: Studio Pot. Ed.,Tokyo: Pot Shuppan.　工藤 定次 (著), スタジオポット(著)。「おーぃ、ひきこもり そろそろ外へ出てみようぜ—タメ塾の本」。出版社:ポット出版、１０月、２００１。「ISBN 4-939015-10-6」
  16. ↑ Okano, Kaori and Motonori Tsuchiya. 1999. "Education in Contemporary Japan: Inequality and Diversity." Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  17. ↑ "White Paper on Labour and Economy 2006: Diversification of Employment and Working Life." 2006. Provisional Translation by Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILPT). Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.
  18. ↑ Matthews, Gordon; White, Bruce (2004). Japan's Changing Generations: Are Young People Creating a New Society?. London: Routledge Courzon. ISBN 0-415-32227-8.
  19. 1 2 3 "Shutting Themselves In". The New York Times. 15 January 2006. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 "BBC NEWS - Programmes - Correspondent - Japan: The Missing Million". Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  21. ↑ Rohlen, Thomas P. (1992). "Learning: The Mobilization of Knowledge in the Japanese Political Economy". In Kumon, Sumpei; Rosovsky, Henry. The Political Economy of Japan. Volume 3: Cultural and Social Dynamics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. 321–363. ISBN 0-8047-1992-6.
  22. ↑ Rohlen, Thomas P. (1996). "Building Character". In Rohlen, Thomas P.; Le Tendre, Gerald K. Teaching and Learning in Japan. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–74. ISBN 0-521-49587-3.
  23. ↑ White, Merry (1987). The Japanese Educational Challenge. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 4-7700-1373-6.
  24. ↑ Tsukada, Mamoru (1991). Yobiko Life: A Study of the Legitimation Process of Social Stratification in Japan. Berkeley: University of California. ISBN 1-557-29031-8.
  25. ↑ Yoshimoto, K, and Japan Institute of Labor. 1996. "High School and Initial Career of Graduates." JIL Report No. 89.
  26. ↑ "NPO法人 楽の会リーラ". Npo-lila.com. Retrieved 2013-06-18.

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