Satou Tatsuhiro

“Question: Why can one keep living as a hikikomori? Answer: Because one's food, clothing and shelter are assured. It's because one is permitted a lukewarm bare minimum of a life that one can keep living as a hikikomori indefinitely. Being able to live as a hikikomori was in itself very much a luxury. Without the assurance of food, clothing and shelter, unless you're prepared to die, there's no other way but to work.”

“People in reality spout off all in unison about love and friendship but in fact it's a dirty little world full of lies and desires, isn't it?”

“If you don't see her, you won't fall in love. If you don't fall in love, you won't get hurt.”

“Because of our broken instincts, we are in pain. We continue living in pain, because our instincts have been twisted by reason. So, what are we supposed to do? Should we abandon knowledge? Throw away reason? In any event, that wouldn't be possible. For better or for worse, we ate the fruit of knowledge long, long ago.”

“No human beings, regardless of who they might be, want to look directly at their own shortcomings.”

“Being alone is best. I mean, it's true, isn't it? In the end you'll be absolutely alone; therefore, being alone is natural. If you accept that, nothing bad can happen. That's why I shut myself away in my six-mat one-room apartment.”

“It's natural for a person to deny he's a failure as a human being. That's why he searches for somebody who is more miserable than himself. That's why so much animosity exists on the internet. Those who aren't able to find a more miserable person, turn to the internet and call other people losers, even though they've never met. Just to make themselves feel superior. Isn't that pathetic? There's a sense of security that comes from speaking badly of someone else. But that isn't true salvation.”