Places to go, people to reach

✦KHJ Sibling Online Branch, Monthly Zoom Circle

A monthly, confidentiality-first facilitated Zoom circle; the branch head is journalist Ikegami Masaki, himself a sibling. Joinable from anywhere in Japan under a handle name; sign up for each session via the KHJ site's notice (the Peatix deadline is 23:59 the day before, but you can still sign up by email after that, and same-day joining is OK).

🕐 Once a month, mainly Sat 20:00-22:00 (some sessions Sun 19:30-21:30); ¥500. Dates and the sign-up page (Peatix) are announced every month in the news on the KHJ site. The deadline is 23:59 the day before, but you can still sign up by email after it, and joining on the day is OK; email online-kyodaishimai@khj-h.com (Check official site for current hours)

💴 ¥500

SHIP, Network for Hikikomori & an Inclusive Society

Ikegami Masaki (himself the older brother of a tojisha) is one of its three representative directors and publishes its quarterly magazine SHIP!. His founding statement names the sibling position directly: sibling struggles 'had no consultation desk, no receiving place, they were made invisible,' and he hopes siblings will take part in SHIP. A media-and-dialogue network open to siblings.

🕐 Website; publishes the quarterly magazine SHIP!

💴 The website and news membership are free. The quarterly magazine costs 6,000 yen a year by subscription, or 1,100 yen per issue

Yancle Community, Japan's largest young-carer online space

A free Slack community for under-40s caring for a parent, grandparent, or sibling, run by the Japan Young Carer Association. Channel design includes a 'no-reply-needed murmurs' room, so writing alone counts as participating. Former-young-carer social workers and nurses are inside.

🕐 Slack, 24 hours; regular online get-togethers (free to register; some events cost a fee) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free to join (some events are paid)

Hotto Hitoiki Time, monthly Zoom for teens caring for family

A monthly Zoom community for junior-high and high-school students caring for family, casual talk about family, friends, and schoolwork, plus LINE-based online clubs and study rooms. One of the very few same-age spaces a teenage sibling can simply walk into.

🕐 3rd Wed of every month 20:00-21:00 on Zoom (for junior high and high school students; university students also join) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free

Children & Families Agency, official young-carer group directory

The national government's index of young-carer peer and family groups, the upstream source for several entries on this map (Yancle, Fūsen, Sibkoto, the National Siblings Association).

🕐 Website, 24 hours

💴 Free

Young Carer no Hiroba, Tokyo Metro's official young-carer portal (consultation page)

Tokyo's official young-carer portal, consultation page, written with furigana so a teenager can read it and act on it alone.

🕐 Website, 24 hours (each desk has its own hours) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free

Tokyo Hikikomori Support Net (family members incl. siblings)

Tokyo's official consultation service for the person, family and friends: phone, email, home visits and office visits, plus online peer-supporter sessions with people who have lived it and their families. The first public door a sibling can use as 'family.'

🕐 Phone 0120-529-528 Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00; email any time (24 hours); free

💴 Free

Nara Prefecture Young Carer Desk (LINE)

🗾 Prefecture-wide (Nara)

Nara Prefecture's young carer desk, run by the Nara Prefecture social workers' association. Children and young people can talk about caring, school or work, and things they like; local residents and supporters worried about a child can consult too. There is no walk-in: consult by LINE, phone or email. LINE messages any time, replies in desk hours.

🕐 Tue/Thu 15:00-18:30; Sat 14:30-18:30. LINE (ID: @430rnwwo), dedicated phone 050-1725-8996; LINE messages can be sent any time (replies during these hours) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (public consultation) (est.)

Wakamono Care Talk Room (Gifu young carer LINE)

🗾 Prefecture-wide (Gifu)

Gifu Prefecture's LINE desk for children and young people (roughly under 30) and guardians etc. worried about caring for family, their future path or jobs. Talk with people who have cared for family, career consultants and others. Add as a friend, tap 'answer the questionnaire', answer a few simple questions to start.

Source: Gifu Prefecture Children and Families Division, "About Young Carers" page

🕐 LINE weekdays 11:00-20:00 (except holidays and New Year 12/29-1/3); phone: Gifu Prefecture Central Child Consultation Center, Coordination Support Division 058-201-2111 (weekdays 8:30-17:15) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free

Aichi Parent-Child LINE Consultation (young carers)

🗾 Prefecture-wide (Aichi)

Aichi Prefecture's LINE consultation for children and guardians living in Aichi outside Nagoya, and young carers. Add as a friend, choose your municipality, answer the preliminary questions, then start. You can consult anonymously with just a nickname.

Source: Aichi Prefecture Child and Family Division, "Young Carer Consultations" page

🕐 LINE every day 10:00-20:00 (anonymous consultation with just a nickname is OK) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (public consultation) (est.)

✦KHJ Sibling Group, In-Person (Tokyo)

📍 Toshima, Tokyo

Exact location shared when you contact them, the circle shows the general area.

One of the few standing in-person spaces in Japan built specifically for siblings of hikikomori people. The first half is a small-group consultation (30 to 40 minutes per family), the second half a facilitated peer space. Designed around what can only be said among people in the same seat.

🕐 Once a month, Sat or Sun (varies by month; e.g. Sat 10/3: consultation meeting 10:00-12:30, drop-in space 13:30-around 16:15); sign up by email (first come, first served). Group consultation ¥3,000 per party; drop-in space ¥500 (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Group consultation ¥3,000 per family; gathering (ibasho) ¥500

📖 The group's philosophy, and a clear explainer of what siblings legally owe (and don't), is covered in this interview series on Sibkoto ↗

Hikikomori UX Kaigi, Event Calendar

Events run by the tojisha-led UX Kaigi. Eligibility varies per session (some are tojisha-only), so siblings should pick sessions marked for family or open attendance. Current events are mostly held in person, and venues change from session to session, so check the official site for the latest details.

🕐 Check who each event is for (the person themselves / family / anyone) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (UX Kaigi's peer meetings and family sessions; some talks hosted by other groups and the supporter training charge a fee)

✦KHJ Saitama Keyaki, Sibling Group

🗾 Saitama

📍 Iwatsuki, Saitama

Exact location shared when you contact them, the circle shows the general area.

One of the only KHJ regional branches with a dedicated hikikomori-sibling group (led by Taguchi Yurie). Inside a deep local branch, monthly meetings, study sessions, phone consults, there is an explicitly reserved seat for siblings.

🕐 Dates announced on the site's Siblings' Group page (e.g. Sat Dec 19, 2026 from 14:00; drop-ins OK) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 meetings a few hundred yen (some have membership fees) (est.)

Fūsen no Kai, young-carer gatherings (Kansai + Zoom)

Exact location shared when you contact them, the circle shows the general area.

An NPO of current and former young carers (high-school age up), holding bimonthly gatherings built as a place to simply let it out, care-related or not. Kansai in person, nationwide by Zoom.

🕐 As a rule, 2nd Sun afternoon of odd months (Osaka Dental University Makino Campus / a venue in Osaka City); sign-up needed; can join on Zoom (from anywhere in Japan) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free

Photo: さへきひろのぶ

Orange no Kai, family group & family consultation (Nagoya)

📍 Sesame Tower 1F, 17-9 Takebashicho, Nakamura, Nagoya, Aichi (head office)

A hikikomori-support NPO active since 2001 in the 'ekinishi' area west of Nagoya Station. Its family group is presented as one for parents of hikikomori children, and the current site does not mention siblings, so please ask first whether siblings can consult.

🕐 RITA family group: Wednesday salon twice a month (Wed 13:00-15:00) and Saturday meetup once a month (Sat 13:00-15:00); dates announced every month on the official site. Individual consultations by appointment (052-452-8088, weekdays 9:00-16:30; nagoya@orange-net.info) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 meetings a few hundred yen (some have membership fees) (est.)

📊 Open in Google Maps (busy times when shown) ↗

Fukuoka City Young Carer Desk

📍 Blanche Akasaka 3F, 1-3-14 Akasaka, Chuo, Fukuoka

Fukuoka City's young-carer desk, run by the NPO SOS Kodomo no Mura JAPAN on commission from the city. Young carers or their family, and schools or supporters, can consult. It starts with a phone call; depending on the situation, a meeting is booked (at the office, a school, home or a public place).

🕐 Weekdays 10:00-18:00, Sat 10:00-17:00 (closed Wed, Sun and holidays); 092-982-0073; children and young people themselves can book a phone consultation via LINE (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (public consultation) (est.)

Yamanashi Young Carer Desks (phone/LINE/in person)

🗾 Prefecture-wide (Yamanashi)

Exact location shared when you contact them, the circle shows the general area.

Yamanashi's young-carer channels: phone lines open 24 hours, 365 days; a LINE channel (parent-and-child consultation LINE, Yamanashi window) that takes messages after hours and replies the next consultation day; and in-person talks at the prefectural education center, booked by phone.

🕐 Phone 0120-189-783 / 0120-0-78310 (24 hours, 365 days); LINE @778asdia weekdays 12:00-23:00 (except holidays and New Year; you can also send messages outside these hours); in person: book by phone in advance 055-263-3711 (weekdays 9:00-17:00, except holidays and New Year) (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (public consultation) (est.)

Sakata Children and Family Center Gyutto

🗾 Sakata (Yamagata)

📍 2-2-45 Honcho, Sakata, Yamagata (Sakata City Hall 1F, Window 14)

Sakata City's children and family center (City Hall 1st floor, window 14). It takes consultations on children, families, child abuse, young carers and domestic violence, and the city's young-carer page gives this phone number as a place to consult.

🕐 Mon-Fri 8:30-17:15 (except Sat/Sun/holidays and New Year holidays); 0234-24-0981 (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free (public consultation) (est.)

Machikado Support Center family meeting (Minato)

📍 Minato, Nagoya, Aichi

Exact location shared when you contact them, the circle shows the general area.

A free monthly consultation meeting for families of people in hikikomori or futoko: one-to-one time with counselors such as clinical psychologists, plus a space where families share their feelings. Mostly mothers, but fathers and siblings take part too. Apply via the website QR code or email.

Source: Nagoya City, Nagoya Hikikomori Support Guide Map (published October 2025), pp. 24-25

🕐 Once a month (Sat, or Sun/holiday, 14:30-17:00; consultations 14:30-16:30) 052-661-0390; apply via the QR code on the website or by email (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free

Nakano Hikikomori Consultation Desk

📍 Smile Nakano 3F, 5-68-7 Nakano, Nakano, Tokyo

Nakano's specialist hikikomori desk, contracted by the ward to the social welfare council (Smile Nakano 3F). It takes consultations from the person, family (siblings included), friends and others; a social worker listens by phone, email, in person, home visit or online. Anonymous consultation is possible. Start by phone or email.

Source: Tokyo Hikikomori Support Net, list of municipal consultation desks (as of July 1, 2026). Reception hours from Nakano Ward's flyer (July 2025)

🕐 Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00 (closed Sat/Sun/holidays and 3rd Mon) 090-5412-0666; email tunagaru@nakanoshakyo.com; home visits and online consultations also available (Check official site for current hours)

💴 Free