A “hikikomori” (ひきこもり), derived from “hikikomoru” (引き籠もる(ひきこもる), lit. “to stay indoors”), is the Japanese term for a socially isolated person who generally hasn't left their house in 6+ months, does not attend work or school, and has limited social capital outside of their family.

In the past, the term meant “seclusion” or “withdrawal”, often when you'd get sick. One of the earliest use of the term comes from the 1962 book An Introduction to Sung Poetry by Kōjirō Yoshikawa to describe “Sū Shùnqīn” (苏舜钦), a Song dynasty poet who was impeached,¹⁾ fled to his newly-built Cānglàng Pavilion in Sūzhōu,²⁾ and secluded himself until death in 1048.

Of course, the term slowly changed during the Heisei era. By 2019, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare formally defined “hikikomori” as this non-psychotic phenomenon where a socially reclusive person hasn't left home in six months, distinct from schizophrenia but may be misdiagnosed as such.³⁾ It was also implied that “hikikomori” and “NEET” (“Not in Education, Employment, or Training”) were the same thing.

Many people have argued that “hikikomori” and “NEET” are two separate concepts, saying the difference is that a “NEET” can leave their house but a “hikikomori” generally does not. In addition, there are terms for young, unmarried people like herbivore men and parasite single, then you have freeter which is the label often used for underemployed young adults.

Recently, the term “80-50 Problem” (8050問題, Hachimaru Gōmaru Mondai) has emerged to address the social issue of people in their 50s, who lived through the Employment Ice Age, are still living with their parents who are now in their 80s.⁷⁾⁸⁾ Furthermore, this problem has now led to cases of filicide,⁹⁾ matricide,¹⁰⁾ corpse negligence,¹¹⁾ etc. But for now, more research needs to be done.

Surprisingly, the “hikikomori” phenomenon is not exclusive to Japan, but the social issue is often ignored in the West and East, thus the lack of statistics. In nearby countries, they use “yǐnbì qīngnián” (隐蔽青年, lit. “hidden youth”) or “jiālǐdūn” (家裡蹲)¹²⁾ in China, while “hikikomori” (히키코모리) appears to be in the process of being phased out for “ŭndunhyŏng oet'ori” (은둔형 외톨이, lit. “reclusive loner”) in South Korea.

For the English language, the rough equivalent is hermit, loner, or recluse (shut-in), but you could also use NEET as an alternative term. There's also the Boomerang Generation, except the problem with this is that it implies that the person lived on their own at some point, then you have unsympathetic terms that are arguably closer to parasite single instead.

• Of course, “hikikomori” can be abbreviated as “hiki” (ヒキ) or “hikki” (ヒッキー).
• This article turned out to be more serious than I expected. What the hell?

• Hikki
• “If you work, you lose”

• Hikikomori on Pixiv Encyclopedia [JA]
• Hikikomori on Niconico Encyclopedia [JA]
• Hikikomori on Namu Wiki [KO]
• Hidden Youth on Baidu Baike [ZH]
• Housesquatter on Moegirl Encyclopedia [ZH]

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