閉塞感

• 読み: へいそくかん
• ローマ字: heisokukan
• 漢字の分解: 閉 (hei) — close, shut; 塞 (soku) — block, stop up; 感 (kan) — feeling, sense
• 発音: /heː.so.kɯ.kaɴ/

意味

Sense of stagnation; feeling of being stuck; feeling of deadlock. A pervasive sense that society, an organisation, or one's personal circumstances offer no forward movement or hope.

閉塞感 is composed of 閉塞 (obstruction, blockage) and 感 (feeling, sense). It is a key term in contemporary Japanese social commentary, describing the psychological atmosphere of a society that feels unable to move forward — often associated with economic stagnation, demographic decline, rigid hierarchies, or systemic inequality. It is frequently used in journalism, political speeches, and sociological analyses of post-bubble Japan.

例文

1. 長引く経済低迷と人口減少により、地方に住む若者の多くが将来への閉塞感を抱えている。
2. 政治に対する閉塞感が無党派層の増加につながっているという分析が出ている。
3. 起業文化の広まりが、従来の会社員人生に感じていた閉塞感を打ち破る契機になりつつある。

使い方ガイド

場面: social commentary, politics, youth issues, economics, journalism

トーン: analytical, serious

起源と歴史

Compound of 閉塞 (heisoku — blockage, obstruction; from 閉 to close + 塞 to block) and 感 (kan — feeling, sense). 閉塞 is a medical and engineering term for obstruction; applied metaphorically to social and psychological states, it describes a feeling of being trapped with no outlet.

文化的背景

時代: Heisei-Reiwa

世代: Youth to Middle-aged

社会的背景: Universal