Ito is a hikikomori. He voluntarily confined himself to his bedroom and has no intention — or energy — of leaving it for days on end. Instead, he spends time listening to music, playing video games and surfing the internet. According to a 2019 survey, there was nearly a million hikikomori in Japan. Clinicians in Japan classify this as a psychological disorder. So what drives them to become modern era hermits? Do they come back to the world? Is this phenomenon only relative to Japan?
