The Japanese phenomenon of staying inside for years; Hikikomori

During the 1990’s, the term hikikomori first surfaced in Japanese psychological fields. This term is used to describe people (often male young adults) that are scared to enter society. These young adults stay inside for a minimum of six months without working, participating in any form of education, and without having any or minimal social relationships. The reasons they do this vary. Sociologist Andy Furlong states that people that suffer from hikikomori cannot deal with the pressure society puts on them, which makes them depressed and/or socially anxious. According to a 2016 Japanese cabinet survey, Japan counts more than half-a-million (541,000) people affected by hikikomori, making it a significant social issue. And some estimates reach even numbers exceeding 1 million people. These people do not work or contribute to society.

As can be imagined hikikomori is not a phenomenon only existing in Japan. All over the world people seclude themselves from society. However, in the case of Japan, the relevance of this subject becomes bigger and bigger as the Japanese society is becoming one of the ‘oldest’ societies in the modern world. One-fifth of the population in japan is a senior with an age over sixty-five as of 2017. As projected, in 2030 one-third of the Japanese population will be over sixty-five. This demographic problem is closing in on Japanese society. Having nearly one-million young adults in the prime of their productivity locked inside without participating on the labor market, is an immense demographic issue in Japanese society. This is why it is important to look into the causes of hikikomori. Hikikomori’s causes could be rooted deeper into Japanese cultural landscape than imagined at first. This article will look into the ways Japanese individualism expresses itself through hikikomori in the Japanese society. We will try to answer the following questions; “How did hikikomori emerge in Japanese society, and what implications does hikikomori impose upon Japan in the present and future?”

Pressure to contribute to society leads to a feeling of serious discomfort for a lot of people in Japan. Although this is not per definition a Japanese phenomenon, there is a certain conceptualisation in Japan that is unique and which could add to the often-occurring fear that makes young adults prefer a life at home, secluded from social responsibilities. This concept is called amae. This concept is very particular since most languages do not have a word for it, even though it is a concept present in everyone’s life. Amae is a noun that derives from the verb amaeru and this can most easily be defined as “to depend and presume upon another’s love or bask in another’s indulgence”. It is a verb used to describe the passive form of loving; receiving love. That most languages, including English, do not have a word for this, is remarkable. Even animals show amae and, universally speaking, everyone is familiar with it; the need of being loved and to be taken care of. Japanese psychoanalyst and author Takeo Doi states that this need is first perceived in an infant’s attachment to, and dependence on, its mother. Amae involves a sense of certain psychological dependence. Doi states:

“Japanese society in turn has accommodated this need through a culturally reinforced mutuality so that an individual is able to enter into social relationships of familiarity and indulgence with others. Thus in amae a Japanese finds himself, … “warmly wrapped in [his] own environment” and sheltered from “a world of objective reality” ”

The fact that there is a word in the Japanese vernacular explains a more present realisation of amae in Japanese culture compared to other cultures. The awareness of this ‘emotion’ does not express itself necessarily in a more profound display of affection in Japanese society, where people are actually reluctant to show affection in public for example. However, it does helps to explain why young adults in Japan are more likely to show an aversion towards the expectations and responsibilities they feel in modern day Japanese society. As a result this makes them anxious to leave their safe family household. Of course not every person suffering from hikikomori lives in their parent’s household; a lot of people live alone. However, a recent Japanese cabinet survey shows that around 75 percent of the people suffering from hikikomori are younger than 24 years old. Which is an age category in which living with parents is very common in Japan. The same survey shows that 67,3 percent of the respondents defined as suffering from hikikomori are being taken care of by their parents. These numbers indicate that hikikomori is related to amae in the sense that these individuals show strong dependence on their parent’s care. Not unimportant to mention is that it is not uncommon for Japanese to remain in the family home for much of their lives. Adding to that, independence is not as highly valued as in the west, and Confucian principles rooted in Japanese culture highly values respect for ones parents. Considering these conditions, it is imaginable that parents may feel inclined to protect their children when they feel troubled or unable to overcome obstacles in society.

Even though Takeo Doi’s analysis of amae is over forty years old, the concept of hikikomori, and especially hikikomori being considered as a social issue, is relatively new. It is hard to determine if, and how fast this group of people is increasing. This is because it is extremely difficult to analyse the entire population, and to keep track of statistical changes. However, increasing media coverage in recent decades indicates a growth of people suffering from hikikomori and shows the increasing concern regarding this phenomenon in Japanese society. What is the reason for this increase of people affected by hikikomori?

The pressure imposed on young adults in Japan is not necessarily something new. Japanese education is known to generate large amounts of pressure on students due to its lack of second chances and because of the value and importance parents attach to the achievements of their children in school. Attempts have been made to reduce pressure on students by reducing the schooldays from six to five days. This has not necessarily led to a decrease in pressure, since parents often try to compensate this reduction of school time by providing their children with private classes, which only increases tensions. It is evident that Japanese educational system accounts for a lot of pressure and stress among students in Japan. However, this is not the only force behind the rapid increase of hikikomori.

While family and social life in Japan have become more individualised throughout the years, the Japanese educational system did not make the same developments towards modernisation. Changes in the Japanese labour market and higher unemployment rates have added to the already existing pressure and stress that the educational system produces. Finding a job, especially when entering the labour market for the first time after graduating, has become more difficult due to labour market reforms and economic setbacks since the 1990’s. From the 1970’s onward, the Japanese labour market has shown an increase in unemployment rate. From a rate of 1.1% in 1971 to a post-war high of 5.4% in 2001. These increasing unemployment rates show an evident correlation with the surfacing of hikikomori in the final decades of the last century.

In recent years, unemployment rates in japan are decreasing, which could indicate a decrease of people suffering from hikikomori. But the relevance and impact of hikikomori is prone to increase. This is because not the actual number is relevant, but the percentage of the total labour force that is suffering from hikikomori. If the number of people suffering stays the same, its percentage will still rise due to a major demographic problem Japan is facing; namely its ageing society. In 2009 23% of the population was older than sixty-five years old. It is expected that in 2030 one-third of the Japanese population will be older than sixty-five. Japan has the highest proportion of older adults in the world, and this proportion is increasing at an alarming pace. This increasing proportion of the older population will automatically lead to a decrease of the total labour force. Japanese social structures as well as family relations have changed. Traditionally, the children used to take care of their senior parent. However, throughout the last decades the government has made changes in their social structures. An example of this is the implementation of a social insurance system in 2000 under the slogan “from care by family to care by society”. Between 1960 and 2006 the proportion of elderly people living alone (from 4 to 16 percent) or with their spouse (from 7 to 37 percent) has increased significantly. Full employment is crucial for such a social security system to be effective. Hikikomori is an obstacle to achieve, or even approach full employment. Even though Japanese unemployment rates are very low, labor participation, especially among older adults, is essential to sustain the functionality of the Japanese society in the future. The burden of hikikomori upon society will only increase as the total labour force will decrease as a result of Japanese rapid ageing population.

This article discussed the following question; “How did hikikomori emerge in Japanese society, and what implications does hikikomori impose upon Japan in the present and future?” The more profound presence and awareness of amae in Japanese society relates to a lower sense of individualism among Japanese. It also explains a, perhaps unconscious, culturally rooted, need for dependence and security, which explains hikikomori among young adults. Hikikomori is primarily caused by anxiousness and pressures that young adults experience because of obstacles they cannot overcome in society. A lot of pressure teenagers experience is generated by the conservative Japanese educational system. Difficulties with finding a job after graduating add to these pressures even more. Increasing unemployment in the late 20th century shows a simultaneous rise of hikikomori. The biggest threat regarding hikikomori is the fact that Japan’s population is ageing with alarming pace. People suffering from hikikomori will occupy a growing proportion of the total labour force, which is the opposite of what Japanese society needs. Japan has to increase their efforts to decrease the number of people suffering from hikikomori, decrease unemployment even more, and increase labour productivity in order to compensate for its ageing population.