Tag Archives: hikkomori

Sweetheart Sorrow is a fiction piece written by David Hoon Kim, for the New Yorker in 2006, about a Danish student and his hikkomori girlfriend.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“Sure.”

“Is there a disorder where someone locks, um, himself in his room?”

“Hikikomori. Modern-day hermit syndrome.” Philippe’s face lit up. “Most live with their parents, who leave food by the door. In some rare cases, it can get ugly, but they usually live quietly in their rooms and only come out after dark.” He winked. “That is, if they come out at all.”

My body felt hot all over, the way it did at the onset of a fever.

This sort of reminds me of Norwegian Wood.