Abstract

A focus on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis has led to renewed attention on hikikomori in Japan. Hikikomori is a term used to describe a form of Japanese social recluses, or, more officially, anyone who has withdrawn from employment and social activities and not left their room/home for more than 6 months. Amid a current focus on the risks for the development of new, or exacerbation of existing, forms of hikikomori, no research exists on how the lived experiences of hikikomori may have been altered through the opportunities inadvertently thrown up by the significant transformations to social life, education and work. Although not as strict in Japan as in other countries, the lockdowns and restrictions globally re-framed not only understandings of social interaction and isolation, but also the boundaries of social and economic participation, which prior to this point had been central to prevailing negative hikikomori imaginaries. Amid a government and population-wide assessment on the social, emotional and health problems presented by the pandemic, the renewed importance of the centrality of community and our reliance on others in the human experience prevails, at the same time highlighting a need to re-evaluate the ways in which sense of belonging, social membership and participation arise and how this might configure hikikomori imaginaries anew.