To My Former Self Who Was a Hikikomori | My First Note

In this note, I intend to write about how I have lived my life after becoming a hikikomori following my refusal to attend school.

My school refusal (known as 'toko kyohi' at the time) began in the late 1980s. I thought there was no point in talking about something from nearly 40 years ago.

However, the SOS signals from young people overflowing on the internet look exactly like the words I used back then.
Above all, knowing that the number of people whose lives are closed off and who are struggling is increasing, I felt guilty as someone who has experienced it if I did nothing... What I came up with was this note.

How I came to refuse school from my teens,
what triggered a turning point after a total of five years of being a hikikomori,
and how I have lived my life since then while carrying my dark history.

By making one case study public, I am 'starting my note'✨

A morning where I felt invisible existences
One morning during my commute, while walking through a residential area, I stopped and thought, 'Wait a minute.'
How many people are living as hikikomori in the 10 minutes I just walked?

There is a survey suggesting that one in 50 people, from students to the working generation, are hikikomori in Japan. It wouldn't be strange if there were several people living cut off from society in the scenery I see right now.

In a Japan that should be so safe and full of choices, the reality is that the number of people living as if hiding in a cave, fighting the fear of the outside world and having lost the means to live, is increasing.
And they say that Japan is the only country in the world where long-term hikikomori of 20 or 30 years exists.

May my small meddling reach someone
The reason I, with no academic background, work history, or experience, have managed to get by is because the 'older men and women' I met wherever I went became people I could talk to.

Even though I have become an older woman myself, I am far from being on the supporting side.
Even so, I can summarize how that pessimistic view of the future I had in my teens actually turned out in my later life, so I will write it down in this note.


※But I'm nervous and my stomach hurts. To all my acquaintances, please ignore this if you notice it.
As I am a timid person, I will close the comment section. I'm sorry.

Well then, thank you for your support!!

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