Abstract
This paper considers who is “Tojisha” (the person concerned) in the problem of “hikikomori” (socially withdrawn Japanese youth). Through critical reconsideration of the definition of “Tojisha” by Ueno Chizuko, it becomes clear that “Tojisha” by Ueno means individuals who recognize and identify themselves as “hikikomori” with respect to their own needs. Then we examine the “Tojisha” in the “hikikomori” problem and point out that family needs are much more expressed than the needs of those who experience “hikikomori”. Finally, we discuss in what meaning socially withdrawn youth themselves are “Tojisha” and we conclude that we can regard the “hikikomori” subjects as “Tojisha” with an alternative formulation of “Tojisha”: ”the subjects who take their experiences not as something anonymous and but as their own experiences”.
