Tokyo
CNN
—
According to a new government survey, nearly 1.5 million people across Japan have withdrawn from society and lead reclusive lives largely confined within the walls of their home. These people are known as hikikomori, or shut-ins, and are defined by the government as people who have been isolated for at least six months. Some only go out to buy groceries or for occasional activities, while others don’t even leave their bedrooms.
The phrase was coined as early as the 1980s, and authorities have expressed increasing concern about the issue for the past decade – but Covid-19 has made things worse, according to a survey conducted last November by the government’s Children and Families Agency.
The nationwide survey found that among 12,249 respondents, roughly 2% of people aged 15 to 64 identified as hikikomori, with a slight increase among those aged 15 to 39. With that…
2023-04-07 02:38:12
Source from www.cnn.com