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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Don't open it!"''
|'''[[Punny Name|Kiri Komori]]''', ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]''}}
A psychological cultural disease, mainly present in Japanese culture, where a young person snaps [[Education Mama|under pressure]] and becomes socially and physically withdrawn into their household, often for years. Because of the social stigma and the assumption that [[There Are No Therapists|the person's family are the right people to handle the situation]], how many cases actually exist is uncertain.
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Some anime as a rule seems reluctant to reference it except as an implied trait of otaku lest it offend the audience, and most 'mainstream' non-otaku series have a decidedly negative portrayal. For this condition played for laughs (as it often is in Western media), see [[Basement Dweller]]. When the hikki in question is a famous poet, writer, painter, or whatever, see [[Reclusive Artist]]. Unless the Hikikomori can find a source of income which doesn't require he leave his fortress of solitude, then he's probably also a [[NEET]].
Compare [[The Hermit]]. [http://www.warscapes.com/opinion/hikikomori-postmodern-hermits-japan There's a good argument] that Hikikomori are the [[Post Modern]] equivalent of [[The Hermit]], rejecting the modern culture of consumerism and competition, while retaining a tentative connection to the world via the Internet. Hikikomori take a [[Deconstruction|deconstructive]] take on [[Japanese Mythology]], identifying themselves with the Amaterasu who hid in the cave, rather than the Amaterasu as the rising sun and national symbol.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* Pictured above: Japan from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' refers to himself as a hikikomori in the strip alluding to Comodore Perry's arrival to Japan. Meeting the Americans after 200 years of isolation terrifies him so much that he almost has an [[Heroic BSOD]] at the mere idea of speaking to them.
** The strips with isolationist!Japan and Netherlands confirm this, as Japan locks himself in his room constantly and when Netherlands steps in he panicks and screams that he doesn't even want the sunlight to touch him. He even automatically curls up in a ball on the floor whenever he hears the word "open".
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* A serious example, taken to extremes, is Takumi, the protagonist of ''[[Chaos;Head]]''. He lives in a shipping crate surrounded by anime figures, is deluded enough to see anime girls talking to him, and is paranoid to the extreme. The effects of his personality and lifestyle on the characters and situations he (reluctantly) encounters are the major part of the story.
* In the first ''[[Hell Girl]]'' anime series, there's a female hikikomori whose school teacher tries to reach out to her. At the same time she is communicating with what appears to be another student online. That person is actually her teacher (who isn't aware that the person he's talking to online and the student he's trying to help are the same person). [[Hilarity Ensues|He encourages her to send her teacher to Hell.]]
* One ''[[
* In the soccer manga ''Meister'', one of the [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] in the school's soccer team is Koori Taira, an admitted hikikomori who seems dually based on L from ''[[Death Note]]'' and Gosunkugi from ''[[Ranma
* Yuu Matsuura in ''[[Marmalade Boy]]'' was this close to become a hikikomori at age 12, {{spoiler|when he found a letter written by his grandmother, which hinted that the man he knew as his dad wasn't his biological father.}}
* In ''[[
** {{spoiler|Watanuki}} also becomes one; not being able to leave {{spoiler|the shop}} except under very specific conditions is the price {{spoiler|he}} has to pay for {{spoiler|continued existence}}.
* Chiba Seiya from ''[[Flunk Punk Rumble]]'' became one three days into the school year because of a bunch of delinquents looking for him. The main characters managed to get him out of his room though, by beating the crap out of the said delinquents.
* ''[[Eden of the East]]'' has Itazu Yutaka. Called Panties, not only because the kanji in his name can be read that way but also because he became a recluse after losing his only pair of pants. {{spoiler|In the movies, he is no longer one.}}
* Leopard of ''[[Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo]]'' has the distinction of being anime's first hikikomori AI.
* {{spoiler|Sahoko}} from ''[[
* Chrona from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' seems to display symptoms of this, as [[Ambiguous Gender|he/she]] has a distinct trouble interacting with people due to an abusive upbringing. Prefers to stay in his/her room in [[Fan Nickname|Mister Corner]], often for several days at a time.
* Tomohiko Yamada of ''[[Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai]]'' hasn't left his house in three years, and rarely leaves the comfort of his statue, book, and video filled room. Even his mother recognizes that he fits this trope: ''"Tomohiko has that rather popular condition, right? What is it? Hi... hi... hiki-..."''
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* At her introduction, Shiemi Moriyama from ''[[Blue Exorcist|Ao No Exorcist]]'' is one of these, but she overcomes it by the end of her introductory chapter.
* Chisame in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' apparently becomes one after high school for a few years, but later joins Negi's {{spoiler|Mars terraformation project}} as an adivsor. She already had something of the personality in the series, but wasn't as much of a recluse as these types usually are.
== Film ==
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* [[House of Leaves]]: Johnny Truant, after working on The Navidson Record for a while.
* A non-anime example would be Eri Asai, from Haruki Murakami's novel ''After Dark''. After being deprived of a normal childhood because of her hectic modeling career, she abruptly locked herself in her room and went into deep periods of sleep, awakening only to eat and use the bathroom.
* Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the protagonist of [[Oblomov|the eponymous novel]] by Ivan Goncharov, goes in a self-imposed exile from public life, not leaving his [[Tsarist Russia|Saint Petersburg]] apartment for 'years'. The novel was published in 1859, making this trope [[Older Than Radio]]. What's most interesting here is that such behavior wasn't seen as something really extraordinary for a wealthy Russian
* The main character of [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s ''Notes From Underground.''
** As well, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Rodion]] [[Ax Crazy|Romanovich]] [[The Atoner|Raskolnikov]] from his ''[[Crime and Punishment]]''. The unhealthy amount of time he spends in his cramped, dingy apartment ([[Empathic Environment|emulating his mental state at the time]]) is theorized to be a contributing factor to the {{spoiler|murders he commits}}.
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* {{spoiler|Tsuyoshi}} in ''[[Sh15uya]]'' is revealed to have been one prior to having been put into the virtual Shibuya.
* Curtis from the Canadian series ''Twitch City'' can be interpreted as a Western example. He's an agoraphobic Canadian TV [[Otaku]] who never leaves his Toronto apartment if he can possibly help it.
* The title character of ''[[Monk]]'', Detective Adrian Monk, was a complete shut-in immediately after his wife's death. The canon story was that while he was always a neurotic freak, Trudy Monk was the one person who helped him keep his anxieties at bay and function normally. Once she died, he had a [[Heroic BSOD]] and shut himself up in his San Francisco home, not leaving for three years straight. It isn't until the arrival of his nurse Sharona that he starts transitioning back into
** Later on it's revealed that his brother Ambrose has the same condition, though Ambrose hasn't gotten over his. {{spoiler|He's eventually forced outside by Monk because his house was on fire.}}
* ''[[Psych]]'' had a one-shot hikikomori character who only went out on Thursdays to the convenience store and to buy video games. Once-a-day/week/month trips to a convenience store an ''extremely'' common hikikomori trait (as is only going out to buy games/anime/manga/etc).
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* [[Nerd Core]] artist Ultraklystron has [http://ultraklystron.bandcamp.com/track/hikikomori a single devoted to this].
* [[Entertainment for the Braindead]] portrays herself this way in some of her song lyrics. In "Resolution" she has to resolve to "leave the house at least once a day", and in "Relapse" she says, "I don't plan on leaving the house this year / If by then you still remember me, you'll find me here".
* The 1966 song
{{quote|''It's good to see you, I must go, I know I look a fright
''Anyway, my eyes are not accustomed to this light
''And my shoes are not accustomed to this hard concrete
''So I must go back to my room and make my day complete}}
* "Isolated" by Chiasm is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].
* Alison Moyet - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t9wWgDOmek "Invisible"], [[Reclusive Artist|which reflected her real life situation for many years]].
* The video to Kim Wilde's ''Kids in America'' is about an agoraphobe, despite the song's lyrics.
== Theatre ==
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* Marigold from ''[[Questionable Content]]'' started out as one (or very close to one. She obsessed over anime (especially hentai), works on a family company website from home and almost never leaves her apartment. Once she's introduced to the other characters, she begins to leave the apartment more.
** Hannelore used to qualify too, before we saw her. She suffers from some very severe OCD, and before the comic, she was a nervous wreck, incapable of surviving without assistance. When she is finally able to hug her father without freaking out from human contact, everyone present who knew her only as a child is shocked. By the time she appeared in the comic, while she wasn't exactly outgoing, she had advanced beyond this trope, as was much happier for it.
* Dr. Schlock from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has been devolving into a shut in after taking charge of {{spoiler|Herti corp}}, often using video conferencing or inflatable decoys to communicate with people while staying locked in his office. His growing list of enemies and set backs is not being kind to his sanity. Mind you, considering the nature of that organization, he might simply be [[Properly Paranoid]].
* Rob, a side character in ''[[Ménage à 3]]'', lives in the same building with the protagonists, and
* [[Tower of God]]: Jaian Repellista Zahard is one of Zahard's Princesses, but ever since she got that sweet lighthouse she never left her room, spending her days spying on the tower and playing video games [https://web.archive.org/web/20140717083416/http://img.batoto.net/comics/2012/02/03/t/read4f2bbf1e9a9ac/img000011.jpg like Skyrim.]
== Web Original ==
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* Implied about Twilight Sparkle in the pilot of [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]. Her only major interpersonal relationships are Princess Celestia, her tutor, and Spike, whose role in her life is somewhere between adopted son, kid brother, and butler. She apparently doesn't do anything except study, eat, and sleep, and without Spike around she might not even do those last two.
** She is invited to a birthday party, which Spike intended to attend, but she nervously backs out of it. Given the reactions of the ponies who invited her after she dodges the invite, it's likely that these were just her classmates trying to get her out of the library and have some fun.
** In "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2
* On ''[[Daria]]'' she and Jodie attend an orientation at a prestigious private school with their families. There, it is mentioned that w vast percent of the school's graduates go to Ivy League schools, while the remaining mostly decide to "take a break" from strenuous academic activities. Or buttoning their own clothes.
* ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]'': "Hermit Ren", in which he [[Go Mad From the Isolation|goes mad from the isolation]].
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[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]
[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Introversion Tropes]]
[[Category:Post Modern Tropes]]
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