A Study of Hikikomori People’s Experience of Leaving Hometown or Parents’ Home

Abstract

In recent years, welfare support for people who have experienced “hikikomori” (social withdrawal) has become an important social issue, and attention is being paid to solving problems at the hometown level for people experiencing this condition. However, not all of them wish to live in their hometowns or in areas where they have family. Accordingly, this study focusses on such people’s perceived consequences of the migration experience. The research question is as follows: What were hikikomori people’s motivations for migration and the circumstances before and after the migration?

Since September 2020, the author has conducted semi-structured interviews and participant observation at a shared house with users of a non-profit organization that provides support to people who have experienced hikikomori and those in need. Data included interview transcripts and fieldnotes from September 2020 to December 2023.

Three specific findings from this study differ from those of previous studies: (1) the possibility of contact with people who were the subject of real-time interactions associated with the hikikomori experience was related to uncomfortableness in the local community; (2) due to the differences in the local area before and after migration, the lack of anonymity in the destination area was not considered a serious problem, posing no obstacles to migrant life; and (3) in the case of migration by people experiencing hikikomori, the avoidance of local and family networks was a function of, rather than a motivation for, migration.

Based on these findings, this study suggests that it is necessary to reconsider some people with hikikomori as those with potential mobility needs.