Messages from Behind Closed Doors : Exploring the First Self-published Media of Japanese Hikikomori

Abstract

This thesis explores the self-presentation of Japanese hikikomori by analysing the first self-published hikikomori magazine called Hikikomori News, produced in a total of ten individual issues published between January 2017 and October 2018, each dedicated to a specific topic. By conducting this analysis, the study aims to bring a novel perspective into the available body of literature on the hikikomori topic, which, especially in English language, lacks knowledge derived directly from the own experiences of hikikomori, and is instead rich in publications written by external actors (medical specialists, researchers, journalists), or people otherwise empirically relating to, but not having directly experienced, hikikomori (parents, family members or recovery supporters). Given the highly varied, and often very personal, contents of the analysed materials, the study was conducted by coding the available textual material following Braun and Clarke’s guides on conducting reflexive thematic analysis to aid the interpretation of the patterns found within the data. The results of the research are presented and discussed in detail in the form of six constricted themes, which revive around the topics of the hikikomori experience, support, interrelations between hikikomori and people/society/mass-media, the onset variety, the feeling of being dehumanised and employment struggles. This study focuses on a single publication series, which covers a wide range of topics. Due to the existence of other similar sources and sources focused on subsets of hikikomori (e.g., female or ageing hikikomori), there is great potential in further research of this topic by focusing on first-person accounts and widening the existing knowledgebase.