引きこもり

• 読み: ひきこもり
• ローマ字: hikikomori
• 漢字の分解: 引き (pull/withdraw) + こもり (seclude/shut in) → withdrawing into seclusion
• 発音: /çi.ki.ko.mo.ɾi/

意味

A social recluse who withdraws from society and stays confined at home, often for months or years.

引きこもり describes both the condition and the person. Japan's Ministry of Health defines it as someone who has remained isolated at home for six months or more without attending school or work. While it began as a youth phenomenon, '8050 problem' (80-year-old parents supporting 50-year-old hikikomori) has become a major social issue. The term is used both clinically and casually.

例文

1. 弟が引きこもりになって3年、家族みんな心配してる。
2. 週末ずっと家にいたら友達に引きこもりって言われた。
3. 引きこもりから社会復帰するのは本当に大変らしい。

使い方ガイド

場面: social commentary, mental health, casual teasing, news media

トーン: serious or light depending on context

正しい言い方

• 今日は引きこもりデーにする (Today's going to be a shut-in day)
• 引きこもり問題は社会全体で考えないと (The hikikomori issue needs to be addressed by society as a whole)

避ける言い方

• 実際に苦しんでいる人に冗談で「引きこもりじゃん」は傷つける (Jokingly calling someone who is genuinely struggling a hikikomori is hurtful)

よくある間違い

• Using 引きこもり casually for just staying home one weekend — true hikikomori is a serious long-term condition
• Assuming all hikikomori are young — the average age has risen significantly, with many in their 40s-50s

起源と歴史

From 引く (to pull) + こもる (to seclude oneself). Psychiatrist Tamaki Saitō popularised the term in his 1998 book '社会的ひきこもり.' The phenomenon gained widespread attention in the 2000s as an emerging social crisis.

文化的背景

時代: 1990s-2000s recognition as social phenomenon

世代: Originally youth, now spans all ages (8050 problem)

社会的背景: Cross-class social issue

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. Internationally recognised Japanese term. Estimated over 1 million people in Japan meet the definition.