As part of our focus on STEM in East Asia, the East Asian Studies Center is pleased to present a special event on April 10 on the topic of hikikomori, a form of social isolation, in Japan and beyond. The evening features a lecture by leading expert Dr. Alan Teo, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan, followed by a film screening of critically-acclaimed Tobira no muko or Left-Handed.
4:30 P.M.: LECTURE BY DR. ALAN TEO
In recent years, Japan has been struggling with hundreds of thousands of young people who have retreated into their very own bedrooms. Known as "hikikomori," they are modern-day hermits who disdain social contact and are unable to work or go to school for months or even years. Using the lens of a physician -- but, also careful to consider psychological, social, and cultural factors at play, Dr. Teo reviews the nature, scope, and ramifications of this epidemic of social isolation. He further considers whether hikikomori exists elsewhere in the world and what we can do to address the problem.
Alan R. Teo, M.D., M.S., is an adult psychiatrist who completed his undergraduate education with honors at Stanford University and medical school and residency at the University of California, San Francisco. He is currently a clinical lecturer in the department of psychiatry and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan. Dr. Teo’s research is focused on the effect of social ties on mental health outcomes. Recently completed research studies have included a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the role of social isolation in social anxiety disorder and a secondary data analysis of the quality of social relationships as a predictor for the development of major depression. He has also written extensively about hikikomori, a form of social withdrawal first described in Japan. His work has been featured in the Guardian, Le Monde, Los Angeles Times, and NPR. In his clinical work, he is interested in collaborative care and incorporates principles of cultural humility, measurement‐based care, stepped treatment, and patient centeredness. He is fluent in Japanese and serves on the board of directors of VIA, a 50‐year‐old nonprofit organization devoted to cross‐cultural educational programs bridging Asia and the United States.
5:15 P.M.: FILM SCREENING OF "TOBIRA NO MUKO" OR "LEFT-HANDED"
"Hiroshi, a disaffected teenage boy, is struggling at school and one day shuts himself away in his bedroom. For the next two years he refuses to come out or let anyone else in. Hiroshi’s parents are so ashamed by what has happened that they attempt to conceal his condition from friends and family. Inevitably, the household disintegrates. The story is based on the condition of Hikikomori, which is estimated to affect 1 million young Japanese".
-Excerpt from official Tobira no muko website
Tobira no muko (Left Handed) is the debut feature of British director Laurence Thrush and was produced in collaboration with executive producer Takao Saiki through SIZE. Acclaimed American artist Pan American provides the soundtrack. The cast is comprised almost entirely of non-actors, including the star Kenta Negishi, a former student of a school for those unwilling or refusing to attend junior high or high school, as well as ex-hikikomori children. The film blends elements of documentary realism within the confines of a strong narrative structure, a style that takes its inspiration from classic Italian Neo-Realism.
7:15 P.M.: QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION WITH DR. TEO
Co-Sponsors:
Film Studies Program
Institute for Japanese Studies
This event is free and open to the public, and supported in part by a U.S. Department of Education grant for the East Asian Studies Center.
