Hikikomori: Self-Isolation from The Society

There are many people which thrives by living their life. But sometimes, there is a day when we want to shut ourselves from rhe outside world. A temporarily short isolation is enough to recover our mental condition, though Unfortunately, this does not applied to Hikikomori; these people have stayed in their room for longer than 6 months, but why exactly would they put themselves into solitary for such lengthy amount of time? Is it due to stress and pressure of life? Or because of an obscure mental illness? Do they have the will to be able to recover themselves to withstood the society? Let us get to know their characteristics.

Hikikomori, a term originated from Japanese derived by the verb "hiki" which means "to withdraw" and "komori" "to be inside", is simply known as a recluse: typically young adolescent males, commonly around of 12 to 35 years old. The term was coined in 1998 by a Japanese Psychiatrist  Professor Tamaki Saito. The aforementioned referred the term as a result that most of hikikomoris weren't likely a form of mental health diagnosis; rather, it's a state of excessive social withdrawal. At first, hikikomori wasn't realized until the 1990s, where Japanese was faced by an economical degradation. 

Usually, a hikikomori does not attend school activities, going to work, or even as far as not going outside from their room for months. Many of them hide themselves from the public to avoid embarrassment and social communication, and prefer to stay hours upon hours inside their room, sitting on top of the chair while playing games, reading books or manga(s) (a Japanese term for comic), watching videos though the computer monitor or TV, and many activities to kill time.

It is a well-known culture in Japan to have a high expectations regarding of academic, intellectual, and career performance in a person; going to a university, get a good job and live a good life, But the latter is not without weaknesses: these responsibilities are likely to put an excessive burden upon a person. For example, a Lawyer wants their children to be as successful as they are, and in the process, their children spending most of their time studying, rather than enjoying their day. The pressure from their parents render their children to be more deprived from their personal time, and soon, they would withdraw themselves from the parents; in exchange, disappointed in them. The culture itself is a toxic positivity to the future generations, but it is undeniable that it is still live within today's society, especially in Japan.

Another reason why for this withdrawal situations occurs in a person's environment, especially at school. In Japan, the idiom "When in Rome, do what the Romans do" is applied strictly; that means if a person doesn't assimilate to their culture, they are bound to be excluded by the locals. In school however, they will have to face the bullies; it is sad to know this, but school bully is one of the reason of why some people choose to seclude themselves from the world, even to their families. Also, having mental illness is considered a weakness in Japan despite of seeking help from a physiatrist, and there will be (barely) no one to aid them with their day from the stress and anxiety. The weak will eventually be ridden by the strong, and it doesn't matter if you are right, the more you stood out, the more they'll be spiteful to you. Since COVID-19's spread, the loneliness and the repression grows stronger, thus might be the past of the increasing population of people turning into Hikikomori.

Recently, I have found a video which contains a documentary upon the Hikikomori in Japan by RT Documentary, which you can search for below in the list of source. Teruo Miyanishi, an Emeritus Professor of the Wakayama University interviewed some of these recluse, and passing the half-time, he offered Ito, the current interviewee, to go outside and "have a ramen". This proves that despite their unwillingness to go out from their room, other people can still help these people from their depriving loneliness, and support them, if one is willing to. There is also a few Youtubers who was a former (or still) a Hikikomori and is out there sharing their experience, two of them being Nito Souji, a Japanese gave dev, and Hiroshi Yamazoe, a Japanese vlogger (or seem to be), both of them especially Yamazoe-san (Mr. Yamazoe) is trying to "unify" the Hikikomoris and form a community to support each other.

Today, the term Hikikomori has now being used universally for the social recluse, which means it does not belong to Japanese, but to other country such as Mexico, France, Spain, or even U.S.A., as more people began to shut themselves from the outer world. And since then, Hikikomori is beginning to be recognized more and more, the proof being in a form of Documentaries, and other sort of articles from the internet; these people is trying to let others know that the Hikikomori can still be helped, with a proper assistance, they might be able to change their view of society or the world, and quite possibly able to create an motivation for others to stand up their feet, as well.

Source:
https://youtu.be/wE1UIK85E3E (All rights goes to RT Documentary for the video)
https://youtube.com/c/NitoSouji
https://youtube.com/c/HirosiYamazoe