Difficulties and Possibilities of Tojisha Activities of Hikikomori People

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  • ひきこもり経験者による当事者活動の課題と可能性
  • ひきこもり経験者による当事者活動の課題と可能性 : 当事者概念の再検討を通じて
  • ヒキコモリ ケイケンシャ ニ ヨル トウジシャ カツドウ ノ カダイ ト カノウセイ : トウジシャ ガイネン ノ サイケントウ オ ツウジテ
  • Through Reexamination of a notion of “Tojisha”
  • 当事者概念の再検討を通じて

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Abstract

<p>　This paper aims to clarify the problems and possibilities of activities of hikikomori</p><p>people（ those who have socially withdrawn）. For the purpose, I reexamine</p><p>a Japanese notion of “Tojisha”, which literally means subjects or actors who are</p><p>involved in certain problems or issues. Ueno Chizuko has tried to clarify the</p><p>meaning of the notion and she defined “Tojisha” as a “subject who actively</p><p>identifies him/her to the position where his/her needs are attributed”.</p><p>　Based on this previous research, I present extended definition of this notion</p><p>as a “subject who is imposed to reflect on his/her positionalities”. By this extension,</p><p>“Tojisha” can describe the difference between one who expresses his/her</p><p>own needs proactively and one who does not express his/her but experience</p><p>problems in his/her situation as a difference of attitude toward his/her positionalities.</p><p>　Some Tojisha of hikikomori are trying to share their experiences not by identify</p><p>themselves to their positionalities but by sharing their experiences of problems</p><p>through self-help activities. Other hikikomori people develop self-advocacy</p><p>activities, which require people on majority position to accept positionalities of</p><p>hikikomori people not as their condition of failure but just as their living realities.</p><p>In the self-advocacy activities, hikikomori people criticize the majority people</p><p>of Japanese society who deny hikikomori as meaningless or to be changed.</p><p>　Hikikomori people need to accept their positionality of a subject who is difficult</p><p>to comply for social expectation and they need to focus on the “impossibilities”</p><p>rather than the “possibilities” to meet social expectations, if they want to</p><p>develop Tojisha activities as self-help and self-advocacy. Tojisha activities which</p><p>expect “possibilities” of hikikomori people deny hikikomori experiences of “immobilities”.</p><p>Activities of hikikomori people which consider ther “immobilities”</p><p>as essential of their positionality can provide opportunities of self-help and</p><p>self-advocacy for various Tojisha of impossibilities.</p>

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