Dear friends, hikky (hikikomori) people all around the world,
 
Let’s get togetherness at our fabulous hikky event that you can participate in without going out of your room!
 
Have you heard of the word ‘hikikomori’? In Japan, it is said that about a million people, especially young people, withdraw from school, work and/or social relationships other than family, and shut themselves in their rooms without clear reasons. Hikikomori, or social withdrawal, is the name given to this ‘deviant’ situation. The name was originally coined by psychiatrists.
But isn’t it quite normal that some people think this society is not worth participating in? We believe that hikikomori people pose important questions-—e.g. What is society? What is it for? —at the risk of their own careers. As hikikomori people, let’s call ourselves ‘hikkies’ with pride and make our (non-)actions collective.
 
We, Nar’nywa, a Non-Profit Organization in Osaka, Japan that provides ‘a place to be’ with people who have any kind of ‘pain of living’, are celebrating ‘World Hikky Day 2015’ on Wednesday Apr 1, 2015 (local time in Japan).
 
Boosted by about 1 million participants last year (estimated), ‘Japan Hikky Day 2014’ received more than 100 tweets on its hash tag and 71 ‘likes’ to Nar’nywa’s blog. We were filled with delight and deep appreciation that so many friends joined with us.
 
This year, we are back, upgrading the event as ‘World Hikky Day’, inviting our overseas hikky friends to participate. Even though it originally attracted attention in Japan, hikikomori is not happening only in Japan. In various places in various countries, hikkies must survive as well. No matter how different our contexts are, we are all friends in terms of the condition we share: hikikomori. Why don’t we spend this special day thinking about our friends scattered around the world while staying in our own hikikomori place as usual?
Let’s join hikkies simultaneously all over the world.
We wish you a very merry Hikky Day 2015!
Your tweet on #HikkyDay on the day will be greatly appreciated.
 
Nar’nywa
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World Hikky Day
Date: April 1, 2015 (Local time in Japan)
Place: your own place for hikikomori (e.g. your room)
What to do: just stay hikky as usual!
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Translated by Rie Kido & Philip White
Illustration by Keita Soma

※英訳版は、ひきこもりの説明などを入れてるので、ちょっと長くなってます。