《中英對照讀新聞》Japan’s ’older hikikomori’ shun society for years 逃避社會多年的日本「年長繭居族」

◎孫宇青

55-year-old Ikeida leaves the house once every three days to buy food, shuns deliveries to avoid human interaction and has not seen his parents or younger brother for 20 years － a commonplace phenomenon in Japan called "hikikomori."

55歲的池田每3天出門買一次食物，避免必須與人互動的外送服務，而且他已經20年沒見過父母和弟弟—這種司空見慣的現象在日本被稱為「繭居族」。

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Until recently it was thought to be an issue mainly afflicting those in their teens and 20s, but ageing Japan is seeing a growing number of older hikikomori.

直到最近，一般認為青少年和20歲世代是受到該問題折磨的主要族群，但老年化的日本已出現更多年華老去的繭居族。

Graduating from a prestigious Tokyo university and receiving lucrative job offers, Ikeida（not his real name）quickly realized he could not follow his university colleagues into the massed ranks of Japanese salarymen. "I couldn’t wear a suit. I felt like my heart had broken."

池田（非本名）從東京一所聲望卓著的大學畢業，卻在拿到報酬豐厚的工作邀請後，很快了解到自己無法和大學同學一樣，成為廣大受薪階級的一員。「我無法穿西裝。我覺得內心支離破碎。」

Ikeida lives mainly on social benefits but also makes a little money by writing online articles from his room. He desperately wants to recover and has asked his parents several times to accompany him to a psychiatrist but they refused.

池田主要靠社會救濟金過活，也在房間裡上網寫文章賺點小錢。他迫切地想要康復，多次要求父母陪同去看心理醫生，但都被拒絕。

Recognizing the growing problem, the health ministry has requested 2.53 billion yen to support hikikomori people starting in April, helping them find employment that suits their condition.

厚生勞動省注意到這個問題日益嚴重，已研擬從4月起撥款25億3000萬日圓（約6億9000萬台幣），支持及協助繭居族找到適合自身情況的工作。

新聞辭典

shun：動詞，避免。例句：The scandal-embroiled movie star shuns publicity.（這名醜聞纏身的影星避免拋頭露面。）

afflict：動詞，折磨。例句：She is heavily afflicted by people’s verbal attack.（人們的謾罵讓她備受折磨。）

hikikomori：日語音譯詞彙，繭居族，意指逾6個月足不出戶，未上學、未工作、未與家人以外人士互動者。