Pop Japan

Hikikomori refers to young Japanese men who refuse to leave their bedrooms and gets withdrawn from their society. They all spend their evening playing games or touching phones and sleep most of the day. In other words, hikikomori means being a social recluse or isolated. The condition could be caused by depression, anxiety or bullying or pressure from their families to become financially successful and get a professional degree. This reclusive behaviour is also present in women. 

To address the problem, the parents of the affected men availed the services of rental sisters who were trained by a private organization called "new start" that aims to help these men get back to society and live a normal life. The men's parents would pay rent a sister for about 100,000 Yen. A sister is neither specially trained in counselling nor in psychology but they are trained by new start to visit and speak with to hikikomori man and coax him gradually to leave his bedroom and live a normal life.

The New Start organization will also require the young men to live the dormitory where video games and smartphones aren't allowed. In this video, Ayako, a rental sister helped Kenta to build trust and fight depression. They often go out and eat together. Ikuo, a former hikikomori, fell in love with his rental sister, Ayako and they became a couple.

Tags: social condition, reclusive behaviour, behavioral counselling, hikikomori, psychology, social recluse, social isolation, depression, anxiety, bullying, social behavior, japanese society, japan society