BIG IN JAPAN TV TROPES FULL

Part of the debate is how much one can attribute this behavior to shut-in behavior in general. It's not as well-defined a phenomenon as one would like, as the general prejudice against avoidant behavior makes it difficult to assess, diagnose, or explain it without a lot of controversy.

It's also been observed in the U.S., as the country also has a competitive university entrance competition and business culture that many younger people found themselve disillusioned with in the wake of the crisis. While Hikkomori was initially considered to be specific to Japan, the phenomenon started to the observed in the West around the time of the 2007-08 financial crisis, which forced many precarious young people to move back in with their parents. (Many psychologists will say that a hikikomori cannot be violent by definition, as they're nowhere near confident enough to hurt others, but this stereotype persists.) Mainstream media will not portray them positively they may even portray hikikomori as violent, especially in the late 1990s thanks to several bizarre and high-profile crimes committed by shut-ins. Works aimed directly at otaku avoid ascribing hikikomori characteristics to otaku characters for fear of offending their audience.

Many of them are also otaku, as they tend to assume an obsessive activity as a vague coping mechanism.

BIG IN JAPAN TV TROPES FULL

And fourth, Japan is a remarkably easy place to live without ever having to interact with a human being, being full of vending machines and 24-hour corner stores (so if you do have to leave the house, you can do it in the middle of the night when nobody's around) - on top of being able to just buy things on the Internet. In some western countries, mainly those from the Anglosphere, a Basement-Dweller's parents might eventually give up and kick them out, but you'll never see that in Japan. Third, there is a strong tradition of caring for one's family members, so a shut-in's parents will indulge their kid by cooking or doing laundry. Second, social stigma about mental illness discourages these young people from seeking outside help. First, there's incredible pressure on young people to succeed, which leads them to snap and withdraw from society. This is because Japanese culture can easily facilitate someone becoming a hikikomori. The word comes from Japanese although it's not an exclusively Japanese phenomenon, it seems to be more prevalent in Japan than anywhere else.

A hikikomori is a specific, extreme form of The Shut-In who hasn't left his bedroom for a ridiculously long time (like, at least six months). No man is an island, but hikikomori are peninsulae.

Big in japan tv tropes