Originally psychologist Tamaki Saitō, who first coined the phrase, estimated that there may be over one million hikikomori in Japan, or approximately 1% of the total Japanese population, but considering that hikikomori adolescents are hidden away and their parents are often reluctant to talk about the problem, it is extremely difficult to gauge the number accurately.
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Other examples include main characters in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Hayate the Combat Butler, Jeff Beckhaus' Hikkomori and the Rental Sister (2013); Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Castaway on the Moon (2009), Chaos;Head (the lead character Takumi Nishijō), and Robotics;Notes (the character Frau Koujiro).
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According to Michael Zielenziger's book, Shutting out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation, the syndrome is more closely related to posttraumatic stress disorder.
It is a love story between a suicidal man turned castaway on Bamseom in the Han River and a Hikikomori woman who is addicted to Cyworld.
Hikikomori: Tokyo Plastic is a 2004 Japanese film, written and directed by Adario Strange.