Edogawa Ward in Tokyo Will Use Metaverse Tech to Solve the ‘Hikikomori’ Problem
The Edogawa Ward in Tokyo has announced that it will introduce a series of Metaverse meetings as part of the reintegration process for social recluses, in which the meetings will be held in a hybrid medium and involve recluses in person or online. Then there will be a chance to participate via online medium, making it a safe surprise to meet and talk about their common problems. In 2023 there will be 6 events organized by the Kazoku Hikikomori Japan non-profit organization with a capacity of 80 participants, 50 on the Metaverse platform and 50 on the Neoverse platform.30 meetings at designated locations and additional meetings will be held in a space designed by Kazoku Hikikomori where remote users will be able to use avatars to disguise themselves if desired, and an official said about the initiative. We want to offer a place where he thinks ‘I’m willing to be there with others’ and also a recent information that is mentioned if we talk about social exclusion in Japan”.
The problem of social exclusion (or hikikomori) in Japan refers to a condition that affects some individuals in which they withdraw from society and have no interest in interacting with others. The condition has affected more than 1 million Japanese people and is estimated to be more than 2 million when experts consider the numbers to be on the higher side. Certainly this situation can cause problems in families that experience economic stress and may require some of these individuals to incorporate metaverse-based techniques to deal with this phenomenon, and at least to re-negotiate them with their partners. Help can be found. A 2021 survey states that 9,096 residents in Edogawa were hikikomori. Takeshi Saito on the reach and importance of this action says that we do not think that everything will be solved because we certainly offer new technology and maybe it will be helpful for some people and those people we will target. There are people who can’t get out of their rooms and can’t interact with other people and we want to help those people move forward. Another such initiative was announced in October in Toda town targeting school absenteeism and using this technology to allow students to move around the virtual campus while also ensuring regular class preparation was done.
