Hikikomori is a Japanese term referring to the condition of being “shut-in” or someone with that condition. Japanese national surveys indicated that the total number of hikikomori is over one million. This paper seeks to elucidate the “hikikomori” problem faced by families and connect those microscopic experiences to a macroscopic common problem related to some social backgrounds of Japanese society. For the study, I examined statistical data from national and KHJ (a nationwide organization of hikikomori families) surveys, and case studies of fathers of hikikomori sons. One of the main findings was that the common problem of families with hikikomori people is not the shut-in condition of them, but the “dependency” of these adult-aged children. Fathers' attempts to reduce the dependency included encouraging their sons to secure stable employment or connect them to adequate social security, such as public assistance. However, these efforts are often ineffectual because of social structural backgrounds: transformation of the labor market, inadequate social security, and the infinite duty of family to sustain children. This paper also focused on the policies of the “Japanese model of welfare society” as a political factor that reinforced the family dependency by developing a combination of workfare regime and familialism. The Japanese model of welfare society assumes that the employment of men as breadwinners would be stable. Instability of the employment of men makes the model dysfunctional. The expansion of the hikikomori problem as a family dependency problem is evidence of the dysfunction of the model.

中文翻译：

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“隐居”与对家庭的依赖：关注父子关系

Hikikomori 是一个日语术语，指的是被“封闭”的状态或有这种状态的人。日本全国调查显示，隐居的总数超过一百万。本文旨在阐明家庭面临的“隐居”问题，并将这些微观经历与与日本社会某些社会背景相关的宏观普遍问题联系起来。在这项研究中，我检查了来自全国和 KHJ（一个全国性的隐居家庭组织）调查的统计数据，以及对隐居儿子父亲的案例研究。主要发现之一是，有隐居族的家庭的共同问题不是他们的封闭状态，而是这些成年子女的“依赖”。父亲的 减少依赖的努力包括鼓励他们的儿子获得稳定的工作或让他们获得足够的社会保障，例如公共援助。然而，由于社会结构背景，这些努力往往是无效的：劳动力市场的转变、社会保障不足以及家庭抚养孩子的无限责任。本文还关注“日本福利社会模式”的政策，将其作为一种政治因素，通过发展工作福利制度和家庭主义的结合来加强家庭依赖。日本的福利社会模式假设男性作为养家糊口者的就业是稳定的。男性就业的不稳定性使模型功能失调。