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July 04, 2025
 

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HIKIKOMORI

Japan faces a growing crisis of social isolation, with over 1.4 million people — many middle-aged — living reclusive lifestyles, and experts say only long-term, trust-based community support can reverse the trend.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2025
Japan needs to rethink how it helps hikikomori
While hikikomori, the Japanese term for acute social withdrawal, often brings to mind young recluses in dark bedrooms, the reality is broader.
The basic framework adopted by the government calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan government to boost support for job 'Ice Age' generation
The framework calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
Located in Nagano Prefecture, Samurai Gakuen tries to help young and old individuals who have withdrawn from society rediscover their places out in the world.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 31, 2025
How ‘hikikomori’ shut-ins ‘start to have dreams for the future’
As many as 1.5 million “hikikomori” shut-ins withdraw from social life in Japan, but one school in Nagano is finding success is coaxing them back into the world.
Yoshihito Sasaki at Nijikko no Ie, a facility he set up in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, to provide a safe space for those suffering from severe social withdrawal
JAPAN / Society
Mar 14, 2025
Man's grief over wife and son leads to haven for social recluses
Yoshihito Sasaki sought to fulfill his late wife's wish of providing a safe space for those suffering from severe social withdrawal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 31, 2023
Japan's parliament enacts bill to tackle social isolation
The legislation obliges local governments to make efforts to set up regional councils made up of groups offering aid to people suffering from isolation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 13, 2023
South Korea tries $500 handouts to help get reclusive children outside
The new policy’s main goal is to help disadvantaged youth, but it’s also a way for the country to address its shrinking working-age population.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2023
1.5 million people in Japan living as social recluses, many as a result of the pandemic
Some 20% became social recluses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Cabinet Office survey.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 4, 2023
A Tokyo esports school coaxes dropouts back to class
Parents are realizing that nontraditional schooling is better than none at all.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 13, 2022
A third of social recluses are in their 40s and 50s, Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward finds
The ward's survey also showed that 1 in 4 hikikomori had isolated themselves from society and not participated in any social activities for at least a decade.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 12, 2021
‘The Shut Ins’: A poignant look at loneliness from four points of view
The individual voices of the characters shine in Katherine Brabon's novel, which delves into societal pressures and isolation in contemporary Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 1, 2021
Solitude or isolation? Whatever it is, it's spreading.
While humanity is a social species, there's something to be said about solitude. The good kind, that is.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 20, 2021
Line between solitude and withdrawal becomes blurred in Japan amid pandemic
More than half of the nationwide hikikomori population of 1.15 million are between 40 and 64 years old.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2020
The trouble with linking COVID-19 to 'hikikomori'
The mental health issue is already poorly understood; now its role in the public imagination is shifting again.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2019
Behind the rise of Japan's recluses
A lack of economic ambition is increasing the trend of 'hikikomori.'
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 15, 2019
Combating an unfounded fear of Japan's recluses
Although the term "hikikomori," which describes people who shun social contact and seek extreme degrees of isolation, has been in common use for several decades, it has taken on a more sinister cast recently as the media has come to view it as a social problem. In the wake of two incidents that have...
JAPAN / Society
Jun 10, 2019
Support groups deluged by inquiries after Kawasaki and Tokyo murders involving social recluses
Following recent stabbing incidents involving middle-aged hikikomori, or social recluses, and their parents, the number of inquiries received by support groups and similar organizations that support such individuals has surged.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 1, 2019
The prison inside: Japan's hikikomori lack relationships, not physical spaces
Fifty-three-year-old Kenji Yamase doesn't fit the traditional image of a hikikomori, but then perceptions of Japan's social recluses are changing.
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2019
Measures needed to address social recluse problem
The government should explore effective measures of support that suit the diverse circumstances and backgrounds of the hikikomori's problems.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 9, 2017
Shut in by the past yet still unable to face the future
Mom, dad, two kids, nice house, nice suburb, good income — you just know this story is about to go smash.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 1, 2017
OECD urges Japan to boost social services for young people, curb ranks of NEETs
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has urged Japan to improve social services for young people, in particular women, to enable and motivate more active participation in the labor market.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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