Features 23/04/21 Virtual spaces help Japan’s social recluses return to society

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Virtual spaces help Japan’s social recluses return to society

Online meetups offer networking, consultation support, and work-from-home jobs

A recent state-sponsored poll found nearly 1.5 million working-age people in Japan are social recluses. (Photo: AFP)

By UCA News reporter

Published: April 22, 2023 05:30 AM GMT

A local government in Japan has launched an online meeting program for social recluses to help them connect with others and integrate them back into society.

The Kyoto prefectural government’s bi-weekly online meetups for social recluses that has been running since June 2022 titled "online place to be" provides networking, consultation support, and work-from-home jobs, the Mainichi reported on April 21.

As social disconnection among "hikikomori" or social recluses continues to spiral, local governments and private companies provide unique "club activities" and online discussion forums based on their common interests.

“Social recluses can easily participate even if they are hesitant to visit the prefectural government office in person,” Yoshimi Kimura, an official in the government's family support division said.

The virtual space has a small group of participants ranging from preteens to those in their 40s.

The virtual space created and hosted by the prefectural government for recluse individuals can be accessed from the convenience of their homes. The users can also use the forums without revealing their real names or faces.

The chat rooms use virtual avatars, and the participants can discuss a variety of topics such as their favorite foods and the weather in their area.

The participants of the forum also include company staff who monitor the discussions and accompany them in watching live video games on YouTube and discussing their thoughts.

“Sometimes casual conversations reveal deeper issues they are reluctant to talk about with others,” another unnamed official said.

According to a 2017 survey by the commissioner for child welfare in Kyoto Prefecture and local residents, some 1,100 people had withdrawn from society, and 484 (44 percent) of them were not receiving any support.

Reportedly, the Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated the situation and pushed the hikikomori further away from society.

The Kanagawa local government is planning to host a similar virtual space for social recluses in 2023.

The efforts from the local government and private agencies are not limited to the provision of online virtual spaces alone. There have also been efforts to help hikikomori to obtain jobs that they can do from the convenience of their homes.

In 2020, Kunio Yamada, 37, launched "Comoly" an employment service that offers jobs in data entry, transcription, and app development, among others to those who prefer to work from home.

According to Yamada, many of those who are employed by his company earn up to 60,000 yen ($450) per month.

"In rural areas, by making use of vacant houses, shut-ins can live and make tens of thousands of yen each month by working remotely. I would like to create such a new kind of life with them," Yamada said.

Yamada says that the stereotype of "independence equals employment" is what pushes hikikomori further away from society.

Yamada created the service after one of his elementary-school friends became a hikikomori due to his inability to find work after graduation. Yamada advised his friend to learn computer programming and the two now jointly manage Comoly.

Apart from arranging home-based work for its 750-member strong community, Comoly also offers a wide variety of activities, including "metaverse parties," online club activities, and more.

Comoly has clubs catering to the interests of its members such as a cooking club and a board game club.

They also arrange for the members to step out into the real world through their annual work camps.

The specialty "yuzu" citrus fruits that had been abandoned due to a worker shortage in In Kamiyama, Tokushima Prefecture in western Japan were harvested by hikikomori for jam production.

Yamada calls these and other projects "co-creations" instead of "support."

Earlier this month, a government poll found that nearly 1.5 million working-age people in Japan are social recluses, and about one-fifth cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for their social withdrawal.

Among other reasons for social recluses are unemployment, depression, and bullying at school or the workplace in the largely conformist and work-focused Japanese society.