Why does it seem that Hikikomori is a uniquely Japanese phenomenon?

5 comments

1. It absolutely, most definitely is not uniquely Japanese. We just don’t call them that here in the west. We call them losers, neckbeards, NEETs, etc.

2. Yeah I wouldn’t say it’s as bad as meeting the arbitrary “10 years in isolation” target but I’ve known people drop out of college and sit at home for 5 or so years doing nothing.

3. Well it is not the portrayal of hikikomori in japan was mostly on the extreme where in fact majority of them still go outside. 0.5 no otoko is the most honest way of portraying hikikomori on Japanese TV.

4. It’s not.

5. Tons of unemployed NEETs living at home around the world, there just isn’t much western media about them. They are proliferous on 4chan.