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BriefSOCIETY

Japan Pilots AI Social Rehabilitation for Hikikomori: AI Simulated Social Scenarios Help Long-Term Isolates Rebuild Connections

Tokyo Metropolitan Government partners with NTT on AI social rehabilitation program using VR and AI-simulated social scenarios to help hikikomori gradually rebuild social skills, with 340 participants in the pilot.

Japan Pilots AI Social Rehabilitation for Hikikomori: AI Simulated Social Scenarios Help Long-Term Isolates Rebuild Connections

On July 18, 2028, the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Social Welfare and NTT jointly launched the AI social rehabilitation program "Hikari" (Light), targeting Japan's hikikomori population. Hikikomori are people who have withdrawn from society and remain housebound for extended periods. Japan's Cabinet Office's latest 2028 survey shows the hikikomori population has exceeded 1.46 million, with approximately 610,000 having been isolated for more than seven years.

The core of Hikari is a VR-plus-AI social simulation system. Participants interact with AI-driven virtual characters in VR environments -- from simple convenience store purchases to attending small gatherings. The AI system dynamically adjusts social scenario difficulty based on participants' anxiety levels (monitored in real time through skin conductance and heart rate variability).

When the system detects elevated anxiety, it automatically reduces social scenario complexity -- for example, decreasing the number of party attendees from eight to three, or simplifying conversation topics from complex discussions to basic Q&A. As participants show improved adaptability, the system gradually increases social challenges.

The project has been piloted in Tokyo's Shinjuku and Suginami wards. Among the first 340 participants, approximately 28% successfully resumed at least one weekly social outing after 12 weeks of training. Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare director Akiko Tamura said: "Hikikomori is not a problem that can be solved quickly, but the gradual, safe social practice environment provided by AI is the most promising intervention approach we have found."

The project also faces ethical criticism. Psychiatrist Tamaki Saito criticized: "Using AI-simulated interpersonal relationships to treat social avoidance may actually reinforce fear of real human connections. What participants need is genuine, warm human contact, not perfect, predictable AI interactions."