Japan’s hikikomori recluses are growing old. So are their carers

Japan has long grappled with what to do about hikikomori – the social hermits who seal themselves off from the world, sometimes for years, retreating from all human contact.

In the past, these recluses were thought of as a youth problem: troubled teenagers, rudderless young men. But that framing no longer holds.

Japan’s shut-ins are growing old, and the parents keeping them alive are growing older still.

The average hikikomori is now 36.9 years old, according to the Asahi newspaper, citing a recent survey of 280 families conducted by Kazoku Hikikomori Japan (KHJ), an NGO providing support, guidance and community.

A 55-year Japanese man who chose to shut himself away from society poses for a picture in Tokyo in 2018. Photo: AFP

More striking still, the survey suggests more than 43 per cent of hikikomori are now over 40 and nearly 13 per cent are past 50. Their carers – overwhelmingly ageing parents – averaged 66.3 years old.