Line between solitude and withdrawal becomes blurred in Japan amid pandemic
The modern view is mostly — not totally — bleak. Two images dominate: hikikomori (acute social withdrawal) and kodokushi (dying alone). They merge. Hikikomori claimed mass attention a generation ago. It was a young people’s issue. Time passes; age takes its toll. “8050” tells the story: children in their 50s helplessly dependent on parents in their 80s. It’s not sustainable. The parents die. What becomes of the children? They face the bleakest of prospects — solitary drift to solitary death. The Cabinet Office in 2019 estimated the nationwide hikikomori population at 1.15 mill...
Source: japantimes.co.jp