Surely you
have ever joked about the idea of locking yourself in your room forever,
ignoring the real world and dedicating yourself exclusively to playing video
games or binge-watching anime. It sounds like a perfect weekend
plan, but when that fantasy becomes your lifestyle for decades, reality hits
you with horrific brutality. In Japan, the phenomenon of hikikomori (people
who completely isolate themselves from society) is mutating into a terrifying
crisis. And no, we are no longer talking about teenagers depressed by school;
We are talking about full-fledged adults who never got a job and continue to
live off their parents' money.
The
watch does not forgive anyone
The most
recent data from the KHJ organization is a real bucket of cold water. Through
their latest survey, they revealed that the average age of social
inmates in Japan skyrocketed to nearly 37 years. But hold on, because
the statistics get much murkier. More than 43 percent of these people have
already passed the barrier of 40 years of age. The classic image of the otaku
student who locks himself up for being bullied is in the past.
Today we have horrifying cases of gentlemen in their sixties who are still
supported by parents who are close to 90 years of age. It is an unsustainable
situation.
Obviously,
the biological clock does not forgive. These elderly people are not going to
live forever, and when they finally die, their isolated children will suddenly
lose their only network of economic and emotional support.
With no work experience, no friends, and no basic skills to survive in the
outside world, the future for this aging population looks ant-colored. It's a
financial and human disaster about to explode in the faces of the Japanese
government.
An
ignored time bomb
The biggest
problem here is that Japanese society continues to treat this
phenomenon with a completely wrong approach. As Chikako Hibana, director of the
organization, mentions, most of the psychological help and rehabilitation
programs are designed for young people and adolescents. The adults were simply
swept under the rug. Add to this Japan's strict culture of
"dirty laundry is washed at home," where families prefer to hide the
problem and endure in silence rather than ask the government for help out of
sheer public embarrassment.
With
Japan's population shrinking and aging at an alarming rate, having hundreds of
thousands of functioning adults locked up in their homes without contributing
to the economy is a lethal blow. Seeing how easy it is to isolate yourself
today thanks to the internet and remote work.
