Dude, if staying at home is cool, then I'm Kamina. If being a shut-in is cool, that would make the the coolest MF to ever live.

The Daily Yomuri says that vegging out at home is a new lifestyle trend, and that all the cool kids are doing it. A recent survey said that over 40% of Japanese people across all generations said that they preferred staying home to going out, a figure almost 8% higher than the last survey 8 years ago. 

Tetsuaki Higashida, from the survey, said: "During a depressed economy, people are apt to stay at home to save money. Among younger generations, many people enjoy cartoons and games at home, and it's these people who're promoting the trend."

It turns out that sales for game systems and home cooking appliances are up, too.

The article profiled Kenji Soma, 22, a senior at Hosei University. He says that he feels happiest when at home by himself, watching DVDs and videos, sometimes for over 10 hours at a time. He says that his dream is "to buy a projector and large screen to enjoy games and movies in my room."

Hikikomori is in! Thank you, busted economy!