is a Japanese

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

. He specializes in the psychiatry of puberty and adolescence. Saitō is Director of Medical Service at Sofukai Sasaki Hospital in

Funabashi, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (after pa ...

. Saitō is notable for his study of ''

hikikomori , also known as acute social withdrawal, is total withdrawal from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement. ''Hikikomori'' refers to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves. ''Hikikomori'' ha ...

'', a term he coined; he is internationally recognized as Japan's leading hikikomori expert.

Personal history

Saito was born in

Kitakami, Iwate is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,311, and a population density of 210 persons per km2 in 37,085 households. The total area of the city is . The city is famous for the sakura that bloo ...

. In 1980 he graduated from

Morioka First High School , often abbreviated as , is a public, coeducational, university preparatory high school in Morioka city, Iwate, Japan. Founded in 1880, Morioka Ichikō is the second oldest high school in Iwate prefecture and one of the oldest in Japan. As of Ma ...

and matriculated into the

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

the same year; graduating in 1986 from the medical faculty with a specialization in Environmental Ecology. In 1990 he completed a doctoral course in medicine under the leadership of Hiroshi Inamura.

Publications

* ''Bunmyakubyō--Lacan/Bateson/Maturana'' (''文脈病――ラカン/ベイトソン/マトゥラーナ''), ''Context disease--Lacan/Bateson/Maturana'' 1998 * ''Shakaiteki hikikomori--Owaranai Shishunki'' (''社会的ひきこもり――終わらない思春期''), ''Social withdrawal--Adolescence without End'' 1998 * ''Sento bishojo no seishinbunseki'' (''戦闘美少女の精神分析''), ''Psychoanalysis of Beautiful Fighting Girl'' 2000 * ''Gekiron! hikikomori'' (''激論！ひきこもり''), ''Argument! hikikomori'' (co-authored with Sadatsugu Kudo) 2001 * '' 'Hikikomori' kyushutu manual'' (''「ひきこもり」救出マニュアル''), '' 'Hikikomori' rescue manual '' 2002 * ''OK? Hikikomori OK!'' (''OK?ひきこもりOK!''), ''OK? Hikikomori OK!'' 2003 * ''Hikikomori bunkaron'' (''ひきこもり文化論''), ''On Hikikomori culture'' 2003 * ''Kairi no pop skill'' (''乖離のポップ・スキル''), ''Pop skill of Dissociation'' 2004 * ''Bungaku no choukou'' (''文学の徴候''), ''Symptom of the literature'' 2004 * ''Ikinobiru tame no Lacan'' (''生き延びるためのラカン''), ''Lacan for survival'' 2006 * ''Media ha sonzai shinai'' (''メディアは存在しない''), ''Media does not exist'' 2007 * ''Artist wa kyokaisenjou de odoru'' (''アーティストは境界線上で踊る''), ''Artists dance on the borderline'' 2007 * ''Bungaku no dansou--Sekai/Shinsai/Character'' (''文学の断層――セカイ・震災・キャラクター'') ''Dislocation of the literature--Sekai/Disaster/Character'' 2008 * ''Kankei no kagaku toshite no bungaku'' (''関係の化学としての文学''), ''Literature as chemistry of relationships'' 2009 * ''Bungaku no seishinbunseki'' (''「文学」の精神分析''), ''Psychoanalysis of 'Literature' '' 2009 * ''Hikikomori kara mita mirai--SIGN OF THE TIMES 2005−2010'' (''ひきこもりから見た未来――SIGN OF THE TIMES 2005−2010'') ''The future seen from hikikomori--SIGN OF THE TIMES 2005−2010'' 2010 * ''Character seishinbunseki'' (''キャラクター精神分析'') ''Character psychoanalysis'' 2011 Translation in English * Saitō, Tamaki (2007) "Otaku Sexuality" in Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and

Takayuki Tatsumi is a Japanese scholar. He is a professor at Keio University, where he has taught literary theory and American literature since 1989. As an avid science fiction fan, he authored many books and essays on science fiction. He received Nihon SF Tais ...

ed., ''Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams.'' Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (with a foreword by

Mari Kotani is a Japanese science fiction critic, best known as the author of ''Evangelion as the Immaculate Virgin (analysis of the anime serie Neon Genesis Evangelion),'' Tokyo: Magazine House, 1997 and of ''Joseijou muishiki: techno-gynesis josei SF-r ...

) *Saitō, Tamaki (2009) "The Asymmetry of Masculine/ Feminine Otaku Sexuality: Moe, Yaoi and Phallic Girls" in Ayelet Zohar, ed., ''Postgender: Gender, Sexuality and Performativity in Japanese Culture''. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. . * Saitō, Tamaki (2011) ''Beautiful Fighting Girl.'' Trans. J. Keith Vincent and Dawn Lawson. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press. (with a foreword by

Hiroki Azuma (born May 9, 1971) is a Japanese cultural critic, novelist, and philosopher. He is the co-founder and former director of Genron, an independent institute in Tokyo, Japan. Biography Azuma was born in Mitaka, Tokyo. Azuma received his PhD in ...

) * Saitō, Tamaki (2012) ''Social Withdrawal: Adolescence without End.'' Trans.

Jeffrey Angles (born 1971) is a poet who writes free verse in his second language, Japanese. He is also an American scholar of modern Japanese literature and an award-winning literary translator of modern Japanese poetry and fiction into English. He is a pro ...

. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

References

External links

Researcher Information Page
TRIOS of University of Tsukuba

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060623022931/http://homepage3.nifty.com/tamakis/ Tamaki Saitō's website
Sofukai Sasaki Hospital website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saito, Tamaki Anime and manga critics Japanese psychologists Japanese psychiatrists Living people 1961 births Comics scholars