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wringing about the unwillingness of Kudo, who works at a centre for
20-year-oldsthe age at which it hikikomori, told reporters.
becomes legal to drink, smoke, and It is not easy, however, to reconcile
voteto behave and accept the Young adults may need to get out more this problem with the current genera-
responsibilities of an adult. These con- tion of young Japanese, whoon the
cerns have focused on a seemingly new 5 years. Nearly 8% said they had with- surface at leastappear anything but
psychiatric phenomenon: hikikomori drawn from society for a decade or withdrawn. They are travelling over-
(acute social withdrawal). The term, longer. The figures may represent only seas in record numbers, packing night-
coined by psychiatrists, has risen to the tip of the iceberg because hikiko- clubs in Tokyo, and sporting some of
prominence in the past 3 years along mori are by definition reluctant to seek the worlds most outrageous fashions.
with a series of savage crimes done by treatment and their families are often As is often the case with issues of
young recluses. unwilling to request counselling for mental health, this begs the question
Research into the lifestyle of the per- anything that might suggest disfunc- of whether the problem lies with the
petrators showed that their hermetic tionality. observed or the observers. Or to put it
way of lifeshut up for months on Tamaki Saito, the psychiatrist who another way, perhaps the anxiety
end in their rooms with little more coined the term hikikomori, says the about the escapism and withdrawal of
than a computer or a video game for government needs to take young Japanese is as much a reflection
companywas far from exceptional. a systematic approach to defining and of the insecurities of a society that is
News reports sug- dealing with this ageing faster than any other. Such is
gest that up to illness. That will the speed of the demographic shift in
1 million young The extremes of dropping not be easy as the Japan, that people currently in their
Japanese are just dead or dropping out are not symptoms are twenties face a huge burden later in life
as reclusive. And necessarily contradictory hard to pin down. to provide for the health, pension, and
psychiatrists argue Although they welfare needs of their parents.
that this is not so bear similarities Viewed in this light, it is perhaps no
much a lifestyle choice as a sickness to agoraphobia, depression, and other coincidence that the two new social ill-
that afflicts a generation that has been forms of mental illness, specialists say nesses that have come out of Japan in
made vulnerable by affluence and there are important differences. recent years are both related to work.
technological advances. Sufferers behave normally unless 10 years ago, at the height of Japans
For the moment, the term is they are placed in a stressful situa- economic powers, there was a sudden
undoubtedly used more by the media tion, said Hiromi Shiraishi of the rush of concern about karoshi (death
than by the medical community. The Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry. There by overwork) that suggested the coun-
definition of the ailment remains are also many unanswered questions try was labouring itself to an early
sketchy, estimates of the scale of the about the possibility of a link to violent grave. Now, after a decade of eco-
problem are based largely on guess- behaviour. In the past year, newspa- nomic stagnation, all the attention is
work, and research is only just begin- pers have been filled with stories of on hikikomori, which suggests that the
ning. But that has not stopped the reclusive teenagers suddenly turning country is becoming apathetic.
government from taking the issue seri- on their parents, teachers, or class- The extremes of dropping dead or
ously enough to launch studies into matesat times with murderous dropping out are not necessarily con-
the problem, which began last year. consequences. But the postings on tradictory. And both may yet prove to
Specialist psychiatric centres have websites suggest that the alienation be symptoms not just of Japan, but of
been established and there is a associated with hikikomori manifests all modern societies. But it is hard to
plethora of websites offering advice. itself more in lethargy than in violence. escape the conclusion that these ill-
In its first study of the phenomenon While a clear definition remains elu- nesses reflect at least as much on
released in April last year, the govern- sive, there is broad agreement that this Japanese society as on the individuals
ment defined hikikomori as anyone illness is a product of the affluence, concerned.
who has completely withdrawn from technology, and convenience of mod-
society for more than 6 months. The ern Japanese life. Many hikikomori Jonathan Watts
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.