Discussion what is a hikkikomori and why is the media so obsessed

[Insomniac]

(Title: hikkikomori dying out of sight)

I keep seeing documentaries like this on YouTube. why is the media so obsessed with the term?

In the short documentary, the narrator keeps saying that the social worker are saying that in the WHOLE of Japan, there are, like, 72 hikkikomoris at increased risk of dying. I feel bad for them but I think this is a VERY insignifican number. They keep throwing numbers like 72, 350 hikkikomori and I keep asking myself why would they care so much about such an insanely small number.

also, what exactly is an hikkikomori? Is it like an incel? Or a simple recluse?

At what age are you considered a recluse? Are you a recluse if you live with your family and regularly go out but don't have a job?

I'm genuinely confused at all these terms and the weird morbid curiosity hikkikomori are attracting. People obviously don't give a shhhhhhhit about them (unless when they want to appear heroicly concerned).

I also noticed they never showed a female hikkikomori. Those that mean the the term refers only to men who are recluse?

 

[Ash’Girl]

I'd never heard of it so I googled. It seems to be categorised by extreme social withdrawal but how that differs from just being a recluse I don't know. The wiki said it's a term they apply only to people that have been ruled out as having any other mental health disorder that might account for the withdrawal. Re the gender thing, I admit I know little to nothing about Japanese culture but it mentioned that there may be some stigma in the family's talking about the person with this condition (or lifestyle choice, however you want to view it), so they often go unreported, but that it often effects the eldest son in a family who has not succeeded academically or professionally in living up to expectations, but that it can effect males and females equally. Maybe the Japanese are very traditional in their views of expectations, gender roles and pressures? Sounds like maybe a cultural thing, but I honestly don't know.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing and I'll follow in case anyone part of the Japanese culture has better info than my wiki search!

 

[Huntfish34]

I've often wondered the same thing myself,. Thank you both for sharing this.

 

[Insomniac]

but that it often effects the eldest son in a family who has not succeeded academically or professionally in living up to expectations

wow I think I know how that must feels. Being the eldest and succeeding less than your younger siblings can be very humiliating..

 

[Cosmic dust]

I only know a little because of anime, media, and internet foruns, so it may not be the most accurate:

Hikkikomori is a long term recluse that very rarely leaves his house or room. They can live with their families or alone. These people live in as much isolation as possible, avoiding the outside world and the contact with other people, often recurring to internet and other virtual methods of escapism and entertainment to spend their free time. As you can imagine, its not the most healthy lifestyle that a person can have and I am under the impression that is is considered a huge issue in japan because there are thousands of people that live like that. Its considered a public health issue. I don't know from where your numbers come from, but I doubt that they are correct.

I am not sure about work, I know that many hikkis actually don't work and are dependent of the their families, but I suppose that some of them can do jobs without leaving their room, maybe things related to programming, design, creating content or whatever. I don't know about the "ruled out as having any other mental health disorder that might account for the withdrawal", I mean, why would anyone choose to live like that if they didn't had some sort of issue, like critical social anxiety, traumas and illness?

A person that just don't have a job is simply unenployed, there is also the term NEET, that means not engaged in employment, education or training, I think it started in europe on something.

 

[Cathy Ames]

This one did mention a female.

 

[Yumeko.dreams]

(Title: hikkikomori dying out of sight)

I keep seeing documentaries like this on YouTube. why is the media so obsessed with the term?

In the short documentary, the narrator keeps saying that the social worker are saying that in the WHOLE of Japan, there are, like, 72 hikkikomoris at increased risk of dying. I feel bad for them but I think this is a VERY insignifican number. They keep throwing numbers like 72, 350 hikkikomori and I keep asking myself why would they care so much about such an insanely small number.

also, what exactly is an hikkikomori? Is it like an incel? Or a simple recluse?

At what age are you considered a recluse? Are you a recluse if you live with your family and regularly go out but don't have a job?

I'm genuinely confused at all these terms and the weird morbid curiosity hikkikomori are attracting. People obviously don't give a shhhhhhhit about them (unless when they want to appear heroicly concerned).

I also noticed they never showed a female hikkikomori. Those that mean the the term refers only to men who are recluse?

In Japan it is much easier to become a NEET and give up on life. Some of these people, due to their circumstances go from a NEET to a hikki(komori). These ones will almost never leave the house, have poor hygiene, and usually end up offing themselves before they reach 30 if they don't decide to become a 'normal' person once more.
... So basically almost everyone here is a Hikki.
They also don't want to show the female ones, because that would probably be more sad and dishonorable then the guys, there are of course more of the guys though.

 

[Insomniac]

Some of these people, due to their circumstances go from a NEET to a hikki(komori).

what is the difference between a neet and a hikki?

because that would probably be more sad and dishonorable then the guys, there are of course more of the guys though.

don't you think that it'd be the opposite? the media loves to manipulate people's emotions so don't you think that they'd win in showing females hikki (assuming that it'd be "more sad")?

This one did mention a female.

can you tell me when in the video please?

I don't know from where your numbers come from, but I doubt that they are correct.

thanks for the explanation. Long term recluse who seem to be exclusively or predominantly men? I see.

my numbers come from the video I linked

 

[Cathy Ames]

I haven't watched the entire thing, and there might be additional ones. The one I saw was the second person discussed. It's near the 2:52 mark. A woman in her 60s.

can you tell me when in the video please?

 

[Yumeko.dreams]

what is the difference between a neet and a hikki?


don't you think that it'd be the opposite? the media loves to manipulate people's emotions so don't you think that they'd win in showing females hikki (assuming that it'd be "more sad")?

can you tell me when in the video please?

NEETs are simply not employed, in education, or training. Usually living off parents or whatever while they look for a job.
But a Hikki is a NEET that does all that, but isn't looking for a job AND never leaves the house. They have really given up of living and either end up homeless or in an introspective pool of blood.

Also, remember, hikkis are everywhere, but it's only a known thing in Japan, and while their news people are still parasites, they also know that showing all the female ones would probably that persons family leave their shoes by a cliff. So they show less of them. Plus it's kind of like being a 4channer, you expect them to be guys, so when talked about, shows a guy.

 

[Antiquated]

I don't call myself that, but I fall in that category, been living isolated for 16 years now.

AMA. Just kidding. Kill me please.

 

[Ash’Girl]

Hikikomori - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The wiki page is here, but yeah, it's wiki, so grain of salt.

 

[woe-boy]

I have been desiring to write a book on the 'American Hikikomori'.

Kind of a Studs Terkel thing, where I would interview multiple men and women who are dealing with the transitory e-life that we consider much more important than the analogue lives we were foretold by our folks to develop. For some, it is anime and Japanese counterculture that gets them through life, for some it is guys like me who played guitar and got stoned instead of riding through school with honours. I was very intelligent and could've flown my way through high school. But decided to do homeschool that went nowhere.

If anything, the hikikomori mindset will be the future for so many, as at-home jobs and epidemics stave us off into our homes and throw the key away. We are living in the infant version of The Matrix, which is VR worlds like VRChat and Second Life.

Long live the virtual life, to those who cannot enjoy the real thing. Such as myself, the fellow anxious, and the creatives who perform best in their bedrooms and houses.

 

[veryhappyhuman]

I mean, it's not hard to see why they'd be concerned even with the low numbers. Japan's birthrate is rapidly declining, lot more older folks and lot less younger ones. Unlike Western countries facing the same situation, Japan isnt big on allowing immigration to boost the numbers. Hikkis are young, physically capable of working and having kids, but aren't. Worse if they die off bc even the potential that they may one day contribute to economy or birthrate is gone.

 

[want2dienow]

why so obsessed with strangers anyways?

 

[Julgran]

(Title: hikkikomori dying out of sight)

I keep seeing documentaries like this on YouTube. why is the media so obsessed with the term?

In the short documentary, the narrator keeps saying that the social worker are saying that in the WHOLE of Japan, there are, like, 72 hikkikomoris at increased risk of dying. I feel bad for them but I think this is a VERY insignifican number. They keep throwing numbers like 72, 350 hikkikomori and I keep asking myself why would they care so much about such an insanely small number.

also, what exactly is an hikkikomori? Is it like an incel? Or a simple recluse?

At what age are you considered a recluse? Are you a recluse if you live with your family and regularly go out but don't have a job?

I'm genuinely confused at all these terms and the weird morbid curiosity hikkikomori are attracting. People obviously don't give a shhhhhhhit about them (unless when they want to appear heroicly concerned).

I also noticed they never showed a female hikkikomori. Those that mean the the term refers only to men who are recluse?

@Cosmic dust gave the most accurate description of the Hikikomori, which is not synonymous with "incels". There's also the term Herbivore men, which is a step closer to what we call Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) in the west.

The world is full of lonely people, and people who wish to not be burdened by society's demands. I'm guessing that most people don't know enough about them, so whenever they finally do, they think that they are dangerous - of course... why not...

 

[Insomniac]

and either end up homeless or in an introspective pool of blood

Japanese people think that suicide is honorable so I'm surprised that they'd rather naturally "die out of sight" or end up homeless

 

[Yumeko.dreams]

Japanese people think that suicide is honorable so I'm surprised that they'd rather naturally "die out of sight" or end up homeless

No, specifically harakiri aka seppuku is honorable.
And even then it was more a "die with honor" or "regain your honor" type deal.
Suicide is still common there because aside from being very superstitious by nature they use to have seppuku. So their first reaction is suicide rather then just dealing with a given issue.

 

[woknows]

I think that you must have watched content that made you a target for such documentaries, cause I simply do not encounter such docs. I did watch one interesting documentary. It was more about Japanese hiring practices, culture, and how they managed to lose a whole generation during an economic downturn. This means millions of people who ended up without any real prospects only due to being born at the wrong time. In part, hikikomori are also people who did not get a chance and gave up on society.
I suppose there are lots of reasons why someone shuns society. I watch the part about the female hikikomori, she did not go out even after she ran out of food and simply died in the apartment. I think the 300-something number refers to cases like this, who will probably die due to losing parents who were supporting them. It is pretty sad.

I know someone who is living almost like a hikikomori. He joked last time that he will end his life after his parents are gone and money runs out. He got disillusioned with life.

 

[callme]

It's not correlated with being an incel. I myself being both, a pattern may exist of both in the same person, because both conditions are because of a no life to life and no success in anything while growing up. By themselves, both are a catalyst for isolation from everybody when you turn up the wrong way most people are and you most probably see the world both as a little bit closer to the truth as it is, but also in a warped perception which may as well be wrong on many things.

If I could say what's for sure, it's either something to sort through with a therapist and get over a decade, or a forsaken wasted life you never escape. I am the second. Early on, you quickly realize which by the way it makes you feel.

 

[foreverfalling]

I am actually a bit surprised the number of posts saying they were not aware of this term. Being a hikki is basically giving up on life, withdrawing from society. Just a small step from waiting at the bus stop. I'm sure a lot of these people have CTB on their mind as well. This is coming from someone with relatable problems.

The media being obsessed with them is similar to how many here view pro lifers, who want to pull them back into the system. The documentary showed the officials asking whether they can 'forcibly enter their house' to 'help them'. When modern life is all about working a bullshit job to pay the bills so you can work another day of course people won't find meaning in their life and withdraw or CTB.