Nito Souji is a video game developer and he lives his life as a hikikomori. Hikikomori is a lifestyle in Japan which is adapted by roughly 1 million citizens. Being a hikikomori means not leaving the home for long periods of time. In Nito’s case, he hasn’t left his house in 10 years.
Souji couldn’t get a job after college and become a novelist as he had planned, he went to his hometown and started to live alone in his aunt’s apartment.
The solo indie game developer mentioned “I had no friends in my hometown and felt rushed to become financially independent as soon as possible, feeling ashamed to go outside. So I became a hikikomori.”
During his isolation, Souji was extremely productive. He learned English, started a YouTube channel, taught himself game development, and is launching his first original game, Pull Stay. He has successfully started a Kickstarter for the game and has worked hard on marketing it.
On his YouTube channel he said, “I became a hikikomori with the objective of living every day doing only things that are worthwhile, so for me, the past 10 years have been far more pleasant than working outside.” He stays inside his home and gets his groceries delivered to him, leaving his apartment just once every couple of months for a haircut.
Souji has been working on Pull Stay for 2.5 years and hopes the revenue from the game will help him become self-sufficient for a while. Souji talks about being a hikikomori and the challenges associated with the lifestyle on his YouTube channel where fans have been keeping up with him and the game.