In Japan, extreme bids to help hikikomori are causing them further distress
- Some desperate parents are paying as much as US$65,000 for companies to use violent means to reintegrate their reclusive children into society
- Dubbed hikidashiya – literally ‘those who pull people out’ – a number of these firms currently being investigated
When the mother of a hikikomori social recluse in her 30s paid a Tokyo company 5.7 million yen (US$53,300), she had hoped they would reintegrate her daughter into society.
Instead, workers from Elixir Arts broke down the woman’s front door, forcibly removed her from her flat, took her money and phone, and confined her to a company-run dormitory.
On June 15, another hikikomori lodged a complaint with Tokyo police over a similar case in which his parents paid 7 million yen (US$65,400) to a different firm, which dragged him out of the family home, put him in a psychiatric institution for 50 days, and confined him for another 40 days in a dormitory.
The latest occurred on June 4, when a 23-year-old university-dropout hikikomori was arrested after admitting he shot four of his family members with a crossbow, killing three of them and seriously injuring the last, at their house near Kobe.
These incidents highlight the difficulties in treating shut-ins, the fear of many of their parents, and the methods used by some unscrupulous companies which are profiting from it.
In December last year, the woman who was taken against her will and her mother were awarded a 5 million yen judgment against Elixir Arts. The woman has been diagnosed with PTSD resulting from her experience.
