Lifestyle: What is a Hikikomori?

Video: How To Tell A Hikikomori From An Otaku?

Well when you really get right down to it, Hikikomori is a medical Japanese word that means pulling inward or being confined.

The medical definition of Hikikomori in Japan, as defined by psychiatrist Dr. Tamaki Saikou, is a state of cooping oneself up in one's own home and no longer participating in society.

Now as I'm not a Hikikomori and never have been, I can't exactly say that I have any personal experience with being a Hikikomori. So everything that I know about it is based on research and what I've heard other people say. So now that I've gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let's get into it.

Hikikomori vs. Otaku

So let's start off with with the difference between a Hikikomori and an Otaku, because this is one of the very first things that I've heard people say. Many people get confused between a Hikikomori and the Japanese meaning of an Otaku person.

And when you consider that in both cases, you're talking about someone who stays in their home all the time, this is completely understandable. It also doesn't help that adding to the confusion is the fact that it is completely possible for someone to be an Otaku while they're being a Hikikomori, but the fact remains that Otaku and Hikikomori are two entirely different things.

But if we were to simply go by their actual definitions, the confusions would never get resolved. Hikikomori: A person that stays in his home all the time. Otaku: A person that stays in his home all the time. See the problem?

This is why their reasons for staying in their home all the time has to be included. Hikikomori: A person that stays in his home all the time because he desperately wants to get away from people and society. Otaku: A person that stays in his home all the time because he's having too much fun enjoying his hobby. Now that's more like it.

This naturally means that even though an Otaku will spend the overwhelming majority of his time staying in his home, he will still go out of his home for things like work, school, shopping, hanging with friends, and so on. But a Hikikomori will not. And unlike an Otaku, a Hikikomori does nothing to contribute to society just like the definition says.

So now that we've got that cleared up, let's dive more into hikikomori and find out what it is that makes people become hikikomoris.

What Makes A Person Become A Hikikomori

What causes a person to become a Hikikomori is that, not only Japan, but pretty much all of Asia puts so much pressure on boys to become big successes that the boy eventually cracks under all of that pressure. This is the very same reason that most Asian guys never get to develop socially like girls are able to, resulting in guys that are afraid of girls.

And this problem is so bad that over 700,000 people were known to be Hikikomori and over 1,550,000 people were on the verge of becoming Hikikomori in 2010. And because this is the direct result of cracking under so much pressure, it is strongly believed to be the non - military version of PTSD.

The Voice Of Experience

Now during my research, I got very lucky. I was able to hear the voice of experience from a person who is a former Hikikomori. According to this guy, you feel a huge sense of relief from having all of that pressure finally lifted off of your shoulders in the beginning. In addition, it actually starts off being quite fun because you have the freedom to do what you want, whenever you want, without anyone telling you what you can and can't do.

But what you don't realize, and more than likely not until it's too late, is that the longer you keep yourself locked up and shut away from the outside world, the harder and harder it'll become for you to be able to open that door and go back out into the world. And that's because the longer you're in there, the heavier that door will feel to you whenever the day finally comes that you decide that you want to go back out into the outside world.

The More Positive Alternative Of All Of That Pressure

What is a NEET?

However, there is a more positive alternative of all this pressure that's being put on boys. Rather than becoming Hikikomoris, they can become NEETs. That's because this is the same problem that creates NEETs, even if NEETs are looked down upon and seen as a problem in society when nothing could be further from the truth.