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Hikokomiri is a Japanese concept of severe social withdrawal:

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare defines hikikomori as a condition in which the affected individuals refuse to leave their parents' house, do not work or go to school and isolate themselves away from society and family in a single room for a period exceeding six months.

In April, 2023, The Japan Times reported

An estimated 1.46 million working-age people in Japan are living as hikikomori (social recluses), a survey by the Cabinet Office showed Friday.

Indian Express and The Guardian also reported the claim.

I find that number to be extreme. [Japan has a population around 123 million people.]

Does Japan have such a high number of people with severe social withdrawal?

Oddthinking
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user2638180
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    That looks like a reliable source and a quick Google search seems to more or less support the numbers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori , https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1065304/full#:~:text=They%20reported%20a%20prevalence%20estimate,manic%2C%20and%20hypomanic%20episodes). ) What exactly are you skeptical about other than "the number sounds big to me?" – Hilmar Sep 02 '23 at 13:08
  • To give more context, this [Statistical Handbook of Japan 2022](https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.htm) states that the *working age* population is about 75 million. So 1.5 million alleged *working age* recluses is a much higher proportion than of the whole population – about 1:50 as opposed to 1:84. – Weather Vane Sep 02 '23 at 18:45
  • It's [based](https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/2-percent-japanese-labour-force-modern-day-recluses) on self-reports. The definition is also supposed to exclude people with other mental illness like schizophrenia, but in the case of self-reports, who knows, maybe people would be less willing to report this other stuff... – Fizz Sep 02 '23 at 19:39
  • Also "experts attribute the alarming increase in hikikomori figures to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have exacerbated loneliness and reclusion". – Fizz Sep 02 '23 at 19:40
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    FWTW, this [study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853218300877) using the Japanese scale/def, found the prevalence to be 1.8% in Australia and 1.4% in the US. It was based on a smaller sample though. Search for HSWS (=  Hikikomori Social Withdrawal Scale) therein for the figures. One interesting point is that in those two countries the numbers are hugely biased by prevalence among females, unlike in Japan. – Fizz Sep 02 '23 at 20:04

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