Nearly 1.5 million people in Japan live in social isolation, or “hikikomori” as it is known in the country, of which 20% attribute their condition to the covid pandemic, according to a Japanese government report.

The phenomenon affects about 2 percent of people aged 15 to 64 in Japan, a total of 1.46 million people, according to the November 2022 survey released Friday, the most comprehensive the government has compiled to date. moment.

The most common reason given by respondents to justify their withdrawal from society is that they have given up work, with the second most common being the pandemic.

“It seems that some people fit our definition of hikikomori because they were discouraged from leaving their homes because of covid and ended up having less contact with society,” said Koji Naito, a government official.

Hikikomori are defined by this survey as people aged 15 to 64 who avoid participating in social activities, such as going to school or work, and who have not left their home to shop for at least six months or for other activities, or who hardly ever leave the house.