It isn't the case where every other person you know is a 'ghost', but yeah it does happen (similar to 引きこもり: hikikomori, a person who lock themselves away from

It isn't the case where every other person you know is a 'ghost', but yeah it does happen (similar to 引きこもり: hikikomori, a person who lock themselves away from society). The main thing is that Eastern cultures is all about community (especially so in such a homogenous culture like Japan or Korea where everything is uniform). It can be quite distressful when you feel like an outsider for a group that initially felt like 'home'.