Life in seclusion Japan's hikikomori crisis worsened by pandemic

Vosot Ikeida traces the start of his life of isolation to a time when most people start to spread their wings

- Justin McCurry

Ikeida (not his real name) had moved from his family home in Nagoya, central Japan, to study at a university in Tokyo when he began to feel alienated from his peers.

"The campus was full of smart boys who were aiming to become businessmen, politicians and lawyers," said Ikeida, 60. "I couldn't find anyone who shared my views about the world. I quickly realised that I was in the wrong place... that I wasn't suited to it. I was a stranger." He tried to break free from isolation by travelling overseas, only to spend most of his time holed up in hotel rooms, unable to contemplate a simple sightseeing trip. “I read, wrote, drank, and slept. I didn’t like travelling after all. I was a hikikomori overseas.”

Japan’s health ministry defines a hikikomori – a term coined in the 1990s by the journalist Tamaki Saito – as someone who has remained isolated at home for at least six months, shunning school or work and rarely interacting with people outside immediate family.