Is the hikikomori phenomenon unique to Japan — or does it exist in other societies, too?

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Japan and France is currently trying to answer just that question, in a project that could change how the issue of those people who become social recluses (hikikomori) is understood by experts around the world.

The three-year project, funded by Japanese government grants, aims to study "commonalities and differences" as regards socially reclusive youths in Japan and France. Whereas the word "hikikomori" has been in use in Japan for some 20 years, a similar phenomenon in France has only recently begun to attract attention there, and isn't yet so clearly identified or defined.