Japan, like many countries in East Asia, maintained strict restrictions during the pandemic until 2022, even as the rest of the world was already experiencing “living with Covid”. Japan only reopened its borders to foreign visitors last October, ending one of the world’s strictest border control measures in place for more than two years following the global outbreak. But the price of recent years continues to be felt in this country, reports CNN, adopted by News.ro.

Across Japan, nearly 1.5 million people have withdrawn from society and lead a secluded lifestyle, mostly confined to the walls of their homes, according to a new government survey. Some go out only for shopping or ordinary things, while others do not even leave the bedroom. These are Japanese hikikomori, or “hermits,” defined by the government as people who have isolated themselves for at least six months.

The phrase has been coined since the 1980s and authorities have increasingly expressed concern about the problem over the past decade, but the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, according to a survey last November by the government’s Children and Families Agency.

A nationwide survey found that of 12,249 respondents, 2% of people aged 15 to 64 identified themselves as hikikomori, with even a slight increase among those aged 15 to 39. If this percentage is applied to the total population of Japan, then, according to the estimates of the representative of the agency, there are 1.46 million social recluses living in the country.

Causes and consequences of the hikikomori phenomenon

Common reasons for social isolation were pregnancy, job loss, illness, retirement or lack of close interpersonal relationships, but the top reason was Covid-19, with more than a fifth of respondents citing the pandemic as a significant factor in their reclusive lifestyle.

The survey does not provide additional details about the impact of Covid-19 on respondents.

“Due to Covid-19, opportunities to come into contact with other people have decreased,” said a separate document published in February by the National Library of Japan. Thus, the pandemic likely exacerbated existing social problems such as loneliness, isolation and financial hardship, leading to an increase in reported suicides, as well as child abuse and domestic violence.

Experts have previously explained that the hikikomori phenomenon is often caused by psychological issues such as depression and anxiety, although social factors also play a role, such as Japan’s patriarchal norms and demanding work culture.

On the slope of negative records

But hikikomori existed long before the pandemic and was linked to another inevitable problem in Japan: the demographic crisis. Japan’s population has been in steady decline since the economic boom of the 1980s, while the fertility rate and annual number of births have fallen to new lows, records that have been set for several years in a row.

At the same time, the elderly population is growing as people retire, creating problems for an already stagnant economy. The situation is so serious that this year the Prime Minister warned that the country is “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions.”

Authorities cited other factors, such as a rise in the number of single adults as the appeal of dating and marriage declines, and the weakening of real-life connections as people move their communities online.

Demographic decline in Japan (Photo: Junji Kurokawa / Associated Press / Profimedia Images)

Problem 8050

For families with hikikomori members, this presents a double challenge, dubbed the “8050 problem” — the social isolation of 50-year-olds who depend on their 80-year-old parents.

In 2018, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established a regional hikikomori support body to help those affected by the phenomenon.

“We believe it is important to reconnect with society while providing detailed support to those who have left, addressing their individual situations,” said Takumi Nemoto, the ministry’s head at the time.

He said local and national governments have launched a variety of services, such as counseling and home visits for those affected by hikikomori, housing support for the middle-aged and elderly, and other community-based efforts for “households trying to get by on their own launch SOS”.

But these efforts have been overshadowed by the challenges of the pandemic, prompting the government to conduct nationwide surveys on loneliness from 2021 and to publish a plan for enhanced response in December 2022.

What is the government doing to prevent suicides?

Some activities include public awareness and suicide prevention campaigns through social media; the allocation of more school counselors and social workers and the continuation of a 24-hour telephone counseling service for those with “weak social connections”.

There are also programs for single-parent families, such as meal plans for their children, home loans, and planning services for those going through divorce.

The prospects are even bleaker

While the pandemic may have caused further isolation in society, it may have simply highlighted long-standing problems that are usually overlooked, the government said.

“As the number of lone-person households and lone-person households is expected to increase in the future, there are concerns that the problem of loneliness and isolation will become more serious,” the authority’s plan said.

“Thus, even if the spread of Covid-19 is kept under control in the future, the government will need to address the problems of loneliness and isolation inherent in Japanese society,” the study concluded.