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SNP's word of the day: Hikikomori
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SNP’s word of the day: Hikikomori

Word: Hikikomori

Meaning: Literally “pulling away, being confined,” i.e., “acute social withdrawal” — Wikipedia

Usage: "...In Japan, where uniformity is still prized and reputations and outward appearances are paramount, rebellion comes in muted forms, like hikikomori.” — from a 2006 New York Times article, “Shutting Themselves In”

You should know it because: It’s the title of a shivery new Zola Jesus song, now streaming with the rest of her wicked new album on the Guardian. Go listen. Preferably while shut in, disconnected from everything, utterly alone — because that’s what “hikikomori” really means. The relatively recent psychological phenomenon in Japan affects mostly youth, mostly males, who have withdrawn completely from exterior life. It’s a terrifying, remote idea. But after the non-stopness of TIFF and Fashion Weeks, it doesn’t seem all that weird.

Illustration by Lewis Mirrett
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