Japan society ‘needs to change’ so hikikomori will feel welcome again, experts say
- A new survey shows half of social recluses in Tokyo are women, and that many hikikomori also do not want help reintegrating
- The results come as experts say a solution is needed for Japan’s ‘80-50’ problem, where elderly parents caring for their reclusive children in their 50s start to die
Experts also highlighted the increasing urgency to find a solution to the “80-50 problem”, where parents in their 80s caring for hikikomori in their 50s start to die, leaving their recluse children without care.
In the survey, women accounted for more than 52 per cent of hikikomori, surprising Japanese officials as it had been considered an issue that mostly affected men. More than 30 per cent of hikikomori did not require assistance to rejoin society and simply wanted to be left alone, Kyodo News reported.
Officials in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward sent questionnaires to 180,000 households in the ward, which is home to 700,000 people. Of the approximately 100,000 households that replied, 7,604 said they had a hikikomori resident, while more than 300 respondents had more than one shut-in resident at home.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare categorises hikikomori as someone who has not gone to work or school for at least six months, and rarely interacts with people outside their home.
Government studies and surveys show that there are an estimated 1.1 million hikikomori across Japan.