Commentary: Japans ageing social recluses need more love and understanding

TOKYO: Its been almost 20 years since Japan first encountered its first case of Hikikomori when a 17-year-old teenager went outside for the first time in years.

After a 40-minute journey, he suddenly pulled out a butcher knife and hijacked the bus he was on, eventually killing one passenger and stabbing three in the neck.

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Japans Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has just this year defined Hikikomori as a condition, where individuals shut down from interacting with society and dont attend school or have jobs.

They have limited communication outside of their families and generally stay at home for extended periods of over six months.

According to a study conducted by the Cabinet Office in March 2019, about 541,000 people aged between 15 and 39 shut themselves at home.

But the greater surprise was the trend of even more between the ages of 40 and 64 living as recluses, around 613,000 people. Over seven in 10 were male and half have been in this state for over seven years.

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More Hikikomori middle-aged and seniors say they feel trapped at home and isolated from society than the younger generation, after losing their job or being unable to find one, according to the study.

This growing number of social recluses – of over a million – is one of the most serious social problems facing Japan.

TRAGEDIES

The problem of Hikikomori has come under the media spotlight this year after a series of sensational news shocked the nation.

A 51-year-old man who had been living with his 80-year-old relative attacked elementary school students waiting for school bus in May in Kanagawa, leaving at least two dead and another 18 injured.

That same month, a 40-year-old Hikikomori son stabbed his mother and his younger sister after getting into an argument, killing himself shortly after.

READ: Commentary: High-profile mass stabbings rocked Japan this decade despite low crime rates

Just days after, a former administrative vice minister at Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in his 70s murdered his reclusive 44-year-old son because he was afraid that his son might go on a wild rampage and hurt others like the case in Kanagawa.

But the oversimplification of the subjects reclusiveness and what led them to carry out those terrifying deeds has fuelled a stigma over the phenomenon.

CHANGES IN SOCIETY

Unemployment at 36.2 per cent has undoubtedly been the key cause of this phenomenon, which includes those laid off or contract workers who were not extended and have been unable to find re-employment in their job search.

In their struggles to find a job, many Japanese youths begin to fear meeting others. They find being alone in their own world easier to cope with and withdraw gradually from society.

This condition has been exacerbated as societal employment trends shift away from stable, lifetime employment during Japans glorious years of rapid growth towards a growing proportion of outsourced or contract employment today.

In Japan, people are very sensitive to how they are perceived and constantly compare themselves to others.

READ: Commentary: Japan, the unlikely Asian overachiever

Someone living as a hikikomori is considered a social failure and seen as an embarrassment to their family. Family members try to hide this condition and refuse to seek help, which further perpetuates the problem.

THE 8050 PROBLEM

For a long time, Hikikomori was considered a social problem primarily experienced by listless youths, leading most government employment programmes to be directed at citizens 35 or younger. So those outside of this demographic were inadvertently missed out.

More recent studies point to a new phenomenon – that of Japanese seniors who suffer from hikikomori but cant find ways to get help.

According to a study conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office, one in three rely heavily on their elderly parents.

In some high-profile instances featured in Japanese media, 80-year-old parents provide care for their 50 year old Hikikomori children, a phenomenon many call the 8050 problem.

But as elderly parents age, their HikikRead More – Source