Hikikomori - japanese autism?

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In the book "Shutting Out the Sun", Hikkikomori is portrayed more as a social condition or at least a symptom of a dysfunctional society. The author does not claim that Japanese people who withdraw from society are autistic. Nor would it be true to say that Aspies shy from social contact. Most Aspies are out there doing things and trying to get on with their lives. The problem for Aspies is not in failing to engage, but the failure in the engagement. We mix, we match and some how the nodes do not connect. Such failures are the ingredients of the interminable angst of the Aspie stew.

Don't you think it might have to do with parents being both over protective and critical of their children? This is common in Asian culture. Seems like that could stifle a kid's desire to grow up and become independent. Also, people can become withdrawn out of shame which doesn't have anything to do with autism. Has much more to do with depression.

Since my husband and I are 100% Japanese, I feel compelled to reply to this post.

There are many cases of sensory problems/aspieness on both sides of my family as well as both sides of my husband's families. I am not sure if it is caused by the culture, or if the culture was created to accommodate the people who had these issues. But I have always said that Japan is the ideal place for an aspie. It is rude to speak loudly or make direct eye contact, there is a protocol for daily social interactions, even the language seems to be aspie-friendly. So aspies can pretty much go through life undetected, so to speak.

We both have one cousin each who has had autistic children, and there are about 4 children who have developmental delays. There are several adults who have sensory problems that affected their lifestyles- although they still maintain jobs, they either have not married or have very abbreviated social lives.

I feel very badly for my cousin's children in Japan because they fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum and are not receiving any services. Basically, my cousin does everything she can to try to mask their behavior. They go to regular classes. When her daughter rocks or flaps her hands, she stands behind her and holds her arms down, and she tells her what to say when people speak to her. Because her son is like Rainman and so great at remembering stats, the school simply found a job for him to do. He remembers and keeps track of all the stats for all the school's sports teams and players. One thing that is great in Japan is that they find jobs for everyone to do. They have people working at gas stations, wearing uniforms and waving people in and things like that. So he'll probably end up working for a company remembering stats in some capacity. So if he lost his job because of the economy, I can totally see how he would become a recluse.

So anyway, I think there is a definite aspie connection.

Interesting topic. I don't think Hikkikomori is the same as ASD. ASD is a developmental disorder one is born with. Hikkikomori seems more a reaction to a situation by someone who was not born with developmental problems.

A lot of Asian culture is different than Western culture which preaches staring at people and being overly social. Japanese society is overwhelmed with work and school demands unlike anything in the US. People work 12+ hrs a day and are suppose to devote their lives to their employer. They have huge pressure even in elementary school years to perform at optimum levels. The country is landlocked and over crowded; people are FORCED to live like sardines with multiple generations in one tiny apartment.

So with every day life such as that you will start seeing otherwise normal NT people pulling away because everyone likes some quiet time to sit and think. Even NT's can get overwhelmed by constant demands on them and being forced to rub elbows with others all day. Hikkikomori is more a cultural response to a bad situation.