The global community was introduced to isolation (or quarantine) due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in early 2020. Isolation gave birth to a disease in the post-pandemic world. Although this is not a new disease, it has been spreading on a large scale, like an epidemic, in recent times. The disease can also be called Social Isolation, Loneliness or Hikikomori. Hikikomori is a Japanese word, meaning extreme avoidance of social contact (especially by adolescent males) or a situation when a person wants to avoid social contact.

According to a survey carried out in November 2022, nearly 1.5 million working people in Japan suffer from social anxiety. Takahiro Kato, a Professor of Psychology at Fukuoka-based Kyushu University, is of the opinion that the Japanese culture is responsible for Hikikomori. He has explained that Hikikomori is the byproduct of strict social norms and hidden shaming culture of the island nation.

Japan is a rich nation, with a marginal rate of unemployment. However, the Japanese citizens are always under tremendous pressure to become successful people. After the Second World War, devastated Japan emerged as a Democratic Capitalist country, with the Monarch becoming a Constitutional Head. The structure of Japanese society is based on production and earning. The social tendency of loyalty, heavy work load and under-appreciation of labour make people frustrated with their lives. Hence, Japan experiences Karoshi (death from overwork), Karōjisatsu (workers commit suicide due to mental stress at workplaces) and Hikikomori. People also feel inferior due to family problems, dissatisfaction in life and inability to bear stress. Social anxiety and helplessness alienate people from society. According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, reluctance to leave home for more than six months, to avoid office or school, and to remain friendless are symptoms of mental illness.

The number of permanent jobs has declined in Japan since the 1990s. People have no other option, but to opt for low-paying temporary jobs. There has been an increase in stress level among the middle-class people, marital breakup, and childlessness during this period. Many people have started omitting people. They keep in touch with the outside world only through social media and television.

According to a study carried out by Akita University, a young man, suffering from hikikomori, got a job at the age of 25. He left the job a couple of years later as he failed to handle the pressure of becoming a successful person in life. Now he is a man without any goal. The number of such aimless lonely people is increasing across the globe who are living only with smart phones and social media. The search for a permanent job brings frustration, while hard work becomes the only way to sustain a temporary job. People are trying hard to get rid of this situation. Unfortunately, their quest ends in the world of the Internet, within four walls.

The root of this sort of depression lies in the sense of alienation that has been triggered by Economics. German Philosopher Karl Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) discussed this particular issue in his Theory of Alienation nearly 180 years ago. In his publication The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, he mentioned that the moment a factory became the place of production, the workers became alienated from the process of production. They also failed to identify products produced by them. However, when workers produce something by utilising their skills and ability, they improve themselves as human beings, and also connect themselves with nature, as well as society. Marx claimed that the Capital separated the working people from the process of production and society. As a result, people lost their human senses.

Work helps one remain connected with society, with each other, and also with her/his social self. However, these connections have gradually loosened in the Capital-driven Economy. People have to gradually unconditionally offer themselves to the market in order to satisfy all their needs, and even the market starts creating the needs. With this, the meaning of life changes, and alienation comes into existence. Trying to establish a new relationship between people is the only way out of Hikikomori. Else, there shall be no respite from depression.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das