https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2025.13637
Hikikomori: a world within a room
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Published: 7 March 2025
Dear Editor,
Hikikomori is a condition characterized by prolonged and extreme social withdrawal lasting at least six months, resulting in substantial functional impairment or distress associated with this isolation.1
While the cultural roots of social withdrawal can be observed in Japanese mythology (e.g., the sun goddess Amaterasu, a paramount deity in Shinto, exemplifies voluntary seclusion), the contemporary phenomenon of hikikomori emerged from what was often termed “truancy” or “school refusal” (futoko) during the 1970s and 1980s. The term “hikikomori” itself was first introduced by the psychologist Fujiya Tomita in 1985.2 This term comes from the verb hiki, which means “to pull back”, and komoru, which means “to seclude oneself”.3
However, hikikomori did not gain widespread recognition within Japanese society until the publication of “Shakaiteki Hikikomori-Owaranai Shishunki” (Social Withdrawal: A Never-Ending Adolescence) by the psychiatrist Tamaki Saito in 1998.2 [...]
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