Hikikomori: The Problematic of Escape and Isolation of the Modern Culture from Social Reality to Digital Orientations

This paper deals with the phenomenon Hikikomori that has risen especially in Japan and other far-east countries and has acquired a global dimension each passing day. Hikikomori, which defines those who lock themselves in their room and who never go out of the room under the influence of socialisation factors such as education, occupation and family, can be interpreted as a symptom of technology and competition-based modern culture; so much so that today numerous parents even in Turkey complain about their children who are isolated to their world, who cannot communicate, who do not take responsibility and who lose themselves in technology-related orientations such as virtual identities in social networks, computer games, electronic consumption and online gambling. The case of Hikikomori that has been increased among the youth indicates both withdrawal and disengagement from external world. This article that aims to examine the causes as well as results of Hikikomori analyses the Japanese society-centred question as a sort of common trend that touches upon the contemporary world beyond locality. That is why, although essential references of this qualitative study is based on the far-eastern texts and films, its arguments and findings are about the liquid and fragile modernity that covers Turkish society.