I will now discuss lunches and cleaning at the hikikomori school, as a contrast to those practices in traditional public schools. The school did not provide lunches; the children could either bring their own lunch or buy lunch at the nearby convenience store. Most children chose the latter option, and each day I accompanied them to the store, where they bought drinks and food of their choosing. There was no fixed time for lunch, so on some days I made two trips with different students. Once the students were back at the school with their food, the majority sat around the main table and ate together, often while using their electronic devices (phones, tablets, or computers).
There was no specific time allotted for cleaning, and there was no organized distribution of tasks, either. Usually, at the end of the day, one of the administrators would start sweeping and ask for volunteers. On some days, a student would eagerly volunteer, while on others, all of the students went home without participating in cleaning. The volunteer was not always the same student, and the students’ willingness to participate in the cleaning varied from day to day. At most, only two students cleaned each day, and the others went home, seemingly not concerned about the cleaning or the person doing it that day.
However, I realized through both lunch and cleaning practices at this school that more students might have been willing to perform group activities had these been presented as optional or with more freedom, without the students feeling as though they had to conform to expectations to do so. A potential benefit of the required nature of these activities in traditional schools is that they might compel students to get out of their comfort zone, instilling the same values in everyone. However, the expectation to participate might make certain students uncomfortable doing so. At the hikikomori school, as the teacher framed both the lunches and cleaning as voluntary, the students had the freedom to take part when they wanted to.
In another specific incident during my time there, a mother and her daughter in first grade came to visit to ascertain if the school was a good fit for her. The daughter and I played with a cooking set while her mother talked to the administrators. Overhearing their conversation, I heard the mother say that in the school that her daughter had been attending, the girl faced problems interacting with her peers, and she was oftentimes put in a different space alone. I was not at the school long enough to see whether the girl joined. However, this conversation illustrates how difficulties with peer interaction can emerge early and be exacerbated by school environments that emphasize group participation, suggesting that the heavy emphasis on peer-based participation may pose challenges for children who struggle to engage with their peers.
Although Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare states that there is no single cause for hikikomori, the pressures that students may face at school may strongly contribute to this phenomenon (Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare 2001). As described in previous sections, there is pressure for students to complete tasks and actively contribute to group activities. Taken together, lunch, cleaning, and other school practices illustrate how routines designed to teach important values outside of academics appear to also generate pressure and discomfort for certain students.
As discussed earlier, a student’s inability or lack of discipline in completing certain tasks can lead to strained relationships among students. Teo writes that there have been reports of hikikomori students not wanting to attend school due to taunting, being shunned, and even being physically abused (Teo 2010). The strained relationship among students may increase vulnerability to bullying or social exclusion within peer groups, contributing to students’ feelings of not wanting to attend school.
Krysinska writes that Japanese schools are also known for their intense pressure on students to perform well on exams. This academic pressure stems from needing to do well on examinations and admissions in order to go to good universities and be successful later on in their careers, an expectation that can lead to immense stress and create a lack of desire to attend school (Krysinska 2006). These expectations extend beyond academic pressures to social pressures, as well, as students are expected to actively and successfully participate in activities with their peers. As Teo writes, an inability to do so may lead to cases of bullying or social discomfort that may eventually cause students to drop out of school, which contributes to their becoming hikikomori.