Hikikomori Italia or National Association in regards of Voluntary Social Retreat is an association created in 2017 by Marco Crepaldi, and is also the parent organization affiliated to Hikikomori Italia Genitori (English: Hikikomori Italy Parents). The association is active in almost every region of Italy and offers in-home or online help for hikikomori and their parents. The association also involved itself in the national discourse around the topic of hikikomori in Italy and publicized its opinions on quantitative studies and definitions of surrounding the phenomenon. As of 2026 the Hikikomori Italy association has been mentioned by the Italian government in numerous papers citing their estimates on the overall population of hikikomori in Italy and the possibility to cooperate with the association in campaigns to combat the phenomenon on a national scale. Before the creation of the association Marco Crepaldi, its founder, managed a blog under the same name.
Scopes The association states that its goal is "to combat and reduce voluntary social isolation (hikikomori) and all potentially related problems [...] through information and awareness-raising activities, direct support, counseling, and training". The association offers its services to thousands of families with members affected by hikikomori syndrome.
History
Background
Social background
The very first identification of the phenomenon in Italy were in 2007, when the term started to be used to identify sporadic instances.
On 12 April 2008, interviewer Claudia Pierdominici managed to interview Tamaki Saitō, who coined the term "hikikomori". During the interview they discussed filial dependence in Japan, Korea and Italy (specifically the term "mammoni" in Italy) and also the presence of hikikomori in Italy, specifically in Sicily.
Carla Ricci, an Italian-Japanese researcher, confronted the phenomenon of Hikikomori in Italy with the one in Japan and recorded that there are similarities between the two societies. The social elements in common with Japan which generated the phenomenon in Italy, according to her research, included: "families overprotecting their own children, narcissism, close relationship between mother and child and uncertainty caused by social conditions, which may lead some individuals to withdraw socially, especially those who are emotionally fragile". These similarities were also observed by other researchers who confirmed some of them, such as Antonio Piotti who also noted that Italian and Japanese Hikikomori shared "school phobia, similar relationship dynamics with their mothers, and hobbies revolving around imagination".
In 2017, Karin Bagnato, also identified the existence of a Hikikomori phenomenon in Italy and stated that it was also affected by the North–south divide in Italy. According to the research, Southern hikikomori are more common in middle-lower class families, often have more siblings, and tend to exhibit violent outbursts and anger issues, particularly toward overprotective mothers, reflecting stronger mother/child symbiosis. Northern hikikomori show fewer of such behaviors, influenced by their different social surrounding and economic conditions.
National background prior to the formation Historical analysis on the topic in 2013 suggests that the Italian had identified up to 240,000 socially withdrawn individuals in the country, without however labelling them as "Hikikomori". Meanwhile, also in 2013, the had estimated that up to 3,000,000 individuals between the age range of 15 to 40 years old had exhibited symptoms of being "Hikikomori". This latest estimate is challenged due to the common confusion in estimates between Hikikomori, NEET and simple internet addiction disorder.
In 2013 Francesco de Michele published a case study of a 28-year-old man in Italy who had spent the last 10 years "in a state of almost complete isolation" and only using the internet as a way to communicate with the outside world. He identified this individual as a "clear" case of an Italian Hikikomori.
Blog period (2013 – 2017)
The origins of the association date back to 2013, when the "association" was merely an online blog with active users posting up to 10,000 messages a day at the time. The blog itself was created by Marco Crepaldi who specializes in social psychology and digital communication and at the time had just made a thesis on the topic released to the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Two kinds of people approached the blog at the time: people who wanted to be part of a community and worried parents requesting help and ignorant on what to do.
The objective of the blog was to raise public and institutional awareness on the topic and also create a net of support for those affected by the phenomenon. According to primary sources, 3,000 members were subscribed to the blog upon its creation.
The blog had at some point become its own Facebook group in September 2016.Fenomeno Hikikomori (Raffaella Rapisarda 13 September 2021), statement in "IL PROGETTO “HIKIKOMORI ITALIA”
Activities as an association (2017 onwards)
2017
In 2017 the online blogs transforms into a proper association, and in June 2017 "Hikikomori Italia Genitori" is also founded, aimed at offering "support to the parental role, to combat the voluntary social withdrawal of their children" and with Elena Carolei as acting president of the association.
2018 In February 2018 the Facebook group had 800 members and 600 active users in the overall online community exchanging up to 10,000 messages a day. In that year the association, alongside its affiliated organization, Hikikomori Italia Genitori, planned out an awareness campaign on a national level in various regions including Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy and Piedmont. On 20 February 2018 Hikikomori Italia Genitori, in collaboration with the Regional School Office for Piedmont, Forte Chance Piemonte, the Candellieri Favero Association, ASAPI, and the IIS Avogadro of Turin, and sponsored officially by the Metropolitan City of Turin and the Piedmont Region organized a convention in which experts (and members of the association), parents, and school officials discussed the phenomenon, its symptoms, online community, diagnostic challenges, public health responses, and school inclusion strategies. The event drew significant media coverage and attention. 200 people participated. The convention had a regional focus, and within it, it was stated that at least five new Hikikomori cases occurred monthly in the city of Turin alone.Following the conference in February 2018, on 19 October 2018 the Piedmont region decuded to release an official "memorandum of understanding" between itself, the Regional School Office for Piedmont (Ministry of Education, University, and Research), and the Hikikomori Italia and Hikikomori Genitori Association. The protocol recognized Hikikomori as a "growing phenomenon" that impact people between 14 and 30 year old. The protocol was signed to raise awareness and action in public spaces as to limit such phenomenon.
On 15 March 2018, 13:30 UTC, a conference by Hikikomori Italia took place in Naples in collaboration with "Genitori Campani" (Campanian parents).
On 20 April 2018 the Hikikomori Italia association held a conference in , Venice, with the patronage the Municipality of Venice, the Order of Psychologists of Veneto, and the OMCeO lagoon association. Venetian speakers called for practical interventions at the community level, including home visits, individualized school plans and a network of support for Hikikomori, highlighting the association's role.
Up until 20 April 2018 the "Punta di Ferro" mall in Forlì hosted an awareness campaign portal organized by Hikikomori Italia and CNCC.
On 5 November 2018 the Emilia-Romagna region announced the "Regional Multiannual Plan for Adolescence (lasting from 2018–2020)", which formally recognizes hikikomori as an emerging form of adolescent distress, distinct from open conflict and characterized by extreme isolation and withdrawal from school, social life, and even family environments. In the document the region committed itself to evaluating the possibility of a memorandum of understanding with the Regional School Office and the Hikikomori Italia Genitori Association regarding the topic in order to work together against the rising problem.
On 11 December 2018, Marco Crepaldi, the President of the Hikikomori Italia association, participated in a convention named "Videogames, betting and social withdrawal. When the virtual surpasses reality" organized by the Auto Mutuo Aiuto Trento Association (AMA) in collaboration with the Municipality of Trento and the Progetto 92 cooperative. During the convention Crepaldi stated that all of the Hikikomori cases identified and helped by the association in Trentino were male and within the middle school age range (11 years old to 14 years old).
2019 On 4 March 2019 Hikikomori Italia and the Editorial Society of Milan jointly hosted the "Hikikomori, il fenomeno invisibile" event.
On 9 April 2019, Marco Crepaldi, in behalf of the Hikikomori Italia association participated in the "Challenges of adolescence: The Hikikomori phenomenon" conference held in Bologna by the Metropolitan City of Bologna, Gian Franco Minguzzi Institution and CTSS Metropolitana with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research.
On 6 May 2019 the association was guested to speak about the Hikikomori phenomenon in a conference in San Benedetto del Tronto, moderated by Paola Petrucci, the Equality Councilor for the Province of Ascoli Piceno.
Between 10 May 2019 and 11 May 2019 the Hikikomori Italia association participated, in Rimini, alongside the Minotauro foundation, numerous special guests and the South Tyrolean in a conference focused on Hikikomoris. Thousands of participants were expected, including members of the Italian Society of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology.
On 11 May 2019 it was decided by Hikikomori Italia that their online spaces would become inactive from then on due to the impossibility by the association to fully moderate such spaces and to also verify the age of the users.
On 24 September 2019, Tiziana Testoni, the Hikikomori Italia association coordinator of Parma and Piacenza area, participated in the "Aspettando la buona battaglia" ("Awaiting the good battle") conference held in Parma in order to promote the book "Generazione Hikikomori. Isolarsi dal mondo tra web e manga" written by writer Anna Maria Caresta.
On 1 December 2019 Vatican City-based Caritas Internationalis and Hikikomori Italia jointly launched the "Hikikomori project", funded through 8x1000 funds. The project's aim is to study the phenomenon and understand it in order to act against it.
On 5 December 2019 the Hikikomori Italia association held a conference in Marche for the very first time. It is also the very first time the association ever operated in the region.
2020 On 22 January 2020 a convention held by the Department of Welfare, Family, and Adolescents of the Municipality of Civitanova Marche, the Women's Information Help Desk, and the Praxis Association of Macerata regarding the topic of Hikikomori. They were given the patronage by the Order of Social Workers of the Marche Region and Association of Hikikomori Italia in a joint statement.
On 3 February 2020 the Hikikomori Italia association signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the Regional Health Service and the Municipality of Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, and the region allocated funds to fight the phenomenon in their 2020 budget.
By November 2020 it was reported that the association Hikikomori Italia Genitori had 600 members and around 60 local parent support groups active across 17 regions of Italy, thus excluding the Aosta Valley, Basilicata and Molise.
2021